Bill Self feeling better; Jacque Vaughn to serve as interim HC

Kansas coach Bill Self said he was feeling “much better” after being hospitalized Monday, but he will not coach the Jayhawks in Tuesday night’s game against Colorado.

Jayhawks assistant coach Jacque Vaughn will serve as acting head coach.

“I’m feeling much better and I want to thank the well-wishers and the great team at LMH Health,” Self said in a statement. “I’ll be sitting out tonight’s game, and as I’ve said before, we have an elite coaching staff at KU, and I know our players are in good hands in Boulder. Jacque Vaughn will serve as the acting head coach tonight. He will rely on our great group of coaches, Jeremy Case, Kurtis Townsend, Joe Dooley and Tony Bland, throughout the game to lead the team.”

Self was taken to LMH Health out of caution Monday after feeling “under the weather.” He received IV fluids and was feeling better Monday night, but didn’t travel with the team to Colorado.

Self, 63, has had multiple health scares in recent years.

In 2023, he missed the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments after being hospitalized because of chest tightness and balance concerns. He underwent a heart catheterization and had two stents placed for the treatment of blocked arteries.

In July, Self was admitted to a hospital after feeling unwell and experiencing “some concerning symptoms,” according to the school. He underwent a procedure to have two stents inserted and was released two days later.

Self, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, has been the coach at Kansas since 2003, winning two national championships and reaching four Final Fours. He led the Jayhawks to an NCAA-record 14 consecutive Big 12 regular-season championships from 2004 to 2018.

Kansas (13-5, 3-2 Big 12) has had an up-and-down season, headlined primarily by the availability concerns around star guard Darryn Peterson, the potential No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft. Peterson has missed nine games with a lingering hamstring injury but has started five straight, including Kansas’ upset of then-No. 2 and unbeaten Iowa State last week.

Vaughn, a two-time NBA head coach and former star player at Kansas, was hired as an assistant coach last May. He played for the Jayhawks from 1993-97, winning Big 12 Player of the Year honors and earning second-team All-America recognition in both 1996 and 1997. He had a 12-year NBA career before spending three seasons as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich and two stints as a head coach, first with the Orlando Magic and then with the Brooklyn Nets.