Long-time Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self is nearing a return after missing the entire Big 12 Tournament.
The top-seeded Jayhawks were ultimately thwarted, 76-56, by the second-seeded Texas Longhorns in Saturday’s Big 12 Championship game.
Kansas, which was the Big 12 regular season champions, were without Self due to a medical issue earlier this week, as per the university, which said he “underwent a standard procedure that went well.”
In the interim, the team had been led by top assistant and former St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts, who nearly led them to a title.
“He’s doing well. We plan on him coaching next week,” Roberts said of the six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, according to the Kansas City Star.
Self, 60, underwent the procedure after being brought to the emergency room Wednesday night.
It’s unclear what exactly the procedure was, though, there’s been public speculation of a heart attack, Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said that wasn’t the case, per ESPN.
Self, Roberts and the Jayhawks will await their March Madness fate with the rest of the country on Sunday at 6 p.m. Kansas is expected to again be one of the higher seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
The Jayhawks are the defending national champions and will be looking to become the first back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball tournament winners since the Florida Gators of 2006 and 2007.