Norm Roberts says Bill Self will be back to coach Kansas in the NCAA Tournament

A silver lining for Kansas after getting shellacked by Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship: head coach Bill Self will be back on the sidelines next weekend. And even with the loss, the Jayhawks are likely to be a No. 1 or No. 2 seed — the defending champions are plenty capable of a deep run.

But that was thrown into a bit of flux when Self was hospitalized earlier in the week and didn’t travel to Kansas City with his team for the first portion of the postseason. In his place, assistant coach Norm Roberts took the helm. After the Big 12 title game, Roberts said that the current plan is for Self to be back on the sidelines for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

“He is doing well,” Roberts said about Self. “We plan on him coaching next week.”

Kansas will play next on either Thursday or Friday, depending on the seed and location the Jayhawks draw on Selection Sunday.

Norm Roberts says Bill Self is ‘getting better’ after health scare

Kansas has been playing at the Big 12 Tournament without head coach Bill Self on the sideline after he was hospitalized earlier in the week. In his place, assistant coach Norm Roberts has taken over the helm for the short-term and guided the Jayhawks to a berth in the conference championship game against Texas on Saturday evening.

And ahead of the game, Roberts provided a promising update on the long-tenured Kansas head coach. Doing an interview for the pre-game radio show, he even shared that Self had spoken with the coaching staff that Saturday morning.

“Doing great, getting better and better,” Robert said about Self.

Roberts continued, offering the tidbit about Self speaking with the coaches, and even shared a bit of what his message was.

“The main thing he said is be aggressive, play Kansas basketball and have fun,” Roberts said.