The Oklahoma State graduate will remain as men's basketball coach at Kansas, but not until after discussing the possibility of returning to his alma mater.
Self met for roughly two hours Wednesday night with OSU athletic director Mike Holder at a hotel south of Kansas City, Kan.
Self drove back home to Lawrence and discussed the matter with his family. He slept on his decision, visited again with wife Cindy on Thursday morning and called Holder in early afternoon to confirm he would remain at KU.
"Timing is so much of everything,” Self said one hour before his 4:30 p.m. news conference Thursday on the KU campus.
"This is where we need to be. This is where we want to be right now.”
Self spent 11 years at OSU as a player and assistant before becoming Oral Roberts' coach in 1993.
Self knew of Holder, who was then the Cowboys men's golf coach, but the two had spent limited time together.
"You talk about an impressive guy,” Self said of Holder. "And I'm not just blowing smoke, either. He's got a vision for the place. They're going to win and win big because there's so much passion, commitment and energy that's being made there.”
Self said Holder never rendered a specific financial offer.
"What they offered was an opportunity to come home and be at your own university, to lead the basketball program and try to take it to heights it's never been before,” Self said. "Those were all pretty enticing. He knows I'm emotional about that place.
"We talked about all the different components. He said, 'We could definitely take care of you, but you should decide if you want to be here. If you want to be a part of this, the other components are something you would be thrilled about.'
"Mike said, ‘You decide if you want that. If you decide you want that, then you can decide if you want the other component (a lucrative contract). If that's not something in your heart that you need to pursue, then we don't need to go there.' And he was exactly right.”
Self said OSU was the only school he would consider if he were to leave Kansas.
"That would be the only other place I would even look at,” Self said. "If anybody else calls, there's no way I'd leave Kansas, or even look at it. No way.
"I feel like there's two places I want to be at, and that's here and where I grew up. That's it. It's not like both don't have a lot to sell. We've both got unbelievably loyal families. There are many similarities.”
Self has made three coaching moves after brief stays as coach, and each opportunity was to a bigger program.
He left ORU for Tulsa in 1997, left Tulsa for Illinois in 2000, and left Illinois for Kansas in 2003.
"I've left sooner than I envisioned at other places,” Self said. "If I left now, I'd definitely be leaving too soon. I didn't plan on being at Tulsa for only three years. I certainly didn't plan on being at Illinois three years, and I didn't come here to leave Kansas after five years.”
Sean Sutton resigned as OSU's coach on April 1, the same week Self and the Jayhawks advanced to the Final Four.
KU went on to win the national title with a 75-68 overtime victory over Memphis in the Alamodome.
"Oklahoma State was completely professional in how they did things,” Self said. "They never contacted me during the tournament, and money never came up. I was really appreciative of how he handled it, to be honest with you.”
As for his relationship with Holder, Self said, "I told him I would offer any assistance I could in his search. If he seeks that out, I would love to be of assistance. If he doesn't, I can understand that, too.”
Details of Self's new deal at KU will be ironed out in the coming weeks. Terms were not discussed at Thursday's news conference, but Self is expected to receive guaranteed compensation of around $3 million annually, a considerable increase from his $1.375 million guaranteed deal that ran through 2011.
"I believe (athletic director) Lew Perkins is going to do the things we've talked about and make this a better job than what we've had,” Self said.
