Bill Self, Kevin McCullar open up about chaotic week after KU round one win
SALT LAKE CITY (KSNT) - KU head men's basketball coach had not sent out a post on X, formerly Twitter, on a Jayhawk game day since 2014.
The Jayhawk head men's basketball coach is rarely on social media. Even when he last posted before a game, a decade ago, it was the day of an exhibition match for Kansas against Emporia State. The idea of Coach Self typing up a social media message to the public the morning of an NCAA tournament game is rather unheard of.
However, he did just that on Thursday, as KU waited to take on Samford in the opening round of the 2024 big dance. Click here for that story.
After the game, in which KU won by four, Self and McCullar were both asked about the post.
"He doesn't post on social media ever," McCullar told 27 News when asked what the public support meant to him. "He's got my back, I got his back. That's my guy through thick and thin. I'm just glad I'm here with my brothers and we got a [win] in March Madness."
Self explained what prompted the post.
"I had players come to me and tell me he was getting roasted on social media," Self said. "I was told he's gettng roasted because people were looking at [my] body language... Am I frustrated that we don't have our full compliment of guys? Yes, I am. But [Kevin] hasn't done anything wrong. He's tried his [expletive] off. For anyone to think anything other than that is irresponsible."
The whole situation began when Bill Self first told reporters, on Tuesday, that McCullar would not play in the NCAA tournament.
"I thought [defending him on social media] was the right thing to do just because anything other than him trying his butt off to be out there is totally wrong," he said. "That should be evident by what he's gone through up until this point."
Even while rumors swirled externally, McCullar says he always felt supported within KU basketball.
"All my teammates, everybody on the staff, they all got my back," he said. "And I got all their backs. We know what goes on in this locker room and how hard it can be dealing with injuries and all that. Everybody's dealing with injuries, it's just unfortunate mine just takes a little while to heal."
The Jayhawk senior guard confirmed what Self included in his report, which is that an effort to play through the pain worsened the injury.
"I was just playing on it, it kept getting worse," McCullar said. "Now, I got some different treatment options I'm going to go with and I'm going to try and get this thing healed."
KU has a chance to advance to the Sweet 16, despite McCullar's absence, on Saturday against Gonzaga. The Jayhawks are scheduled to tipoff at 2:15 in the round of 32 game.
"We didn't play until 8 p.m... I was up at 6 a.m... I had time to write a tweet," Self said with a laugh. "...You guys know I tweet a lot."