Bill Self tells Ochai Agbaji what his legacy will be if Kansas Jayhawks win it all
Ochai Agbaji is two wins away from Kansas basketball immortality.
That’s the message 19th-year KU coach Bill Self delivered to the 6-foot-5, 215-pound senior guard from Kansas City after the Jayhawks’ 76-50 Elite Eight victory over Miami on Sunday at Chicago’s United Center.
And it’s a sentiment Self relayed to a handful of media members — ones who spoke with Self in a hall of Caesars Superdome — following Self’s official 20-minute media availability Thursday at the site of the men’s Final Four.
“Ochai has a chance to have the best year that anybody’s had at Kansas since Danny Manning,” Self said.
Manning, the first pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, led KU to the national title in 1988.
“I mean you stop and think about it: player of the year in the league, win the league, win the (Big 12 postseason) tournament, first team All-American, get to the Final Four,” Self added, rattling off accomplishments of Oak Park High graduate Agbaji.
“I mean Devonté (Graham) did those same things, but he didn’t win it (national title). Danny did those exact same things except they didn’t win the league and they didn’t win the conference tournament, but they still won it (all). Ochai would have the chance to go down as the best year that anybody’s ever had with the exception of Danny because Danny was player of the year.”
Self told Agbaji during the victory celebration Sunday of what’s in store for him in the history books if KU can beat Villanova on Saturday in the national semifinals, then either Duke or North Carolina on Monday.
“I said to him, ‘I don’t know if you realize this, but you can be (an all-time KU great). But you’ve got to come here and win two games,’’’ Self related Thursday. “The bottom line is nobody would have a resume he (Agbaji) had his last year in college except for Danny and certainly nobody I coached.”
This all was possible because Agbaji pulled his name out of the 2021 NBA Draft to play at KU a fourth season.
“Ochai wanted to go through the process,” Self said of testing the NBA waters. He decided to return to KU after working out for several NBA teams. “Devonté didn’t want to go through the process. Ochai has to play well for us to probably play well, especially on this stage (but) nobody can take away from what he or this team has done. All we can do is add to it.”
Agbaji, a consensus first-team All-American, is a finalist for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. He’s the reigning Big 12 player of the year and was the most outstanding player at the Big 12 Tournament.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 12:45 PM with the headline "Bill Self tells Ochai Agbaji what his legacy will be if Kansas Jayhawks win it all."
