It’s been a rough start to 2025 for Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, whose Kansas Jayhawks lost to West Virginia 62-61 at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday. And then, Self suffered a nasty spill while filling his car with gas at a West 6th Street gas pump in Lawrence on the morning of New Year’s Day.
That’s a rough 24-hour stretch for the legendary coach.
Self talked about the incident on Thursday during his Hawk Talk radio show. The head coach said there was so much blood following his face-plant, it resembled a “crime scene.” After grabbing some paper towels near a windshield washer fluid container, he drove back to his West Lawrence residence to stop the bleeding and ice his face to cut down on swelling. Self never went to the hospital.
“It was bleeding profusely,” Self told host Brian Hanni, adding, “The first thing to hit the ground was my face. I’m thinking all my teeth are knocked out.”
Related: Three Takeaways From West Virginia’s 62-61 Win Over Kansas
Luckily, all his teeth were in tact. Self said he had his wallet in one hand and trash in another as he stumbled over the pump while trying to get to a trash can.
Self said he didn’t break any bones, and was dealing with scratches and a swollen upper lip.
“I go to work the next day (Thursday) with band-aids across my face. I told the staff, ‘Nobody better laugh at me,’’’ Self said on Hawk Talk.
“The moral of the story, long story short, is as you get older don’t take for granted doing pedestrian-type things because you get in a hurry and do stuff and end up paying for it when you get in a hurry. I could have taken my time and looked at the deal and stepped over it (pump) but, ‘No, let’s be in a hurry and throw trash away so you can stay in the cold the same amount of time.’ “It was not very bright. It was not a great New Year’s in that regard, but we find out later on what happened on Bourbon Street (tragedy in New Orleans) and then you realize how good we all have it. (Yet) it was not the most fun 24 hours. Happy frickin’ New Year,” he added.
For Self, he seemed far more focused on getting his team turned around than he is his banged up lip.
“No energy. No enthusiasm. Little personality if any. No sense of urgency when we are playing the first game of the conference season,” Self said about the loss to the Mountaineers.
The Jayhawks just lost their conference opener for the first time in 34 years. No. 7 Kansas hits the road to take on UCF on Sunday with tip off at 3:00 p.m. CT.
