It was reported earlier this week that Bryson Tiller will enroll early and join Kansas for the spring semester. Bill Self met with the media on Thursday, outlining the plan for Tiller and giving his thoughts on the Player’s Era Tournament and the current state of college basketball. He also gave an update on the health of Shakeel Moore.

Bryson Tiller will redshirt, hope to give him head start on freshman season

When Tiller arrives on campus, it’s not expected that he’ll play all that much. He’s currently rehabbing an injury, and Self said he hopes Tiller is healthy by the time he arrives on campus. While Tiller will not be able to impact his high school season, Self thinks the opportunity can prepare Tiller for a smoother transition to college.

“He’ll be more prepared to have an impact, I think, to start his freshman year knowing he’s gonna be here a semester with us,” Self said.

Self said there are specific things Tiller can do to prepare for the start of his college career. The incoming freshman will have to learn both on-the-court and off-the-court aspects of being a college basketball player.

“How we do things, schemes, style, what our expectations are. Playing against Hunter and KJ and Flory every day will also be good for him,” Self said. “I think there’s a lot of things that go into it, probably getting the comfort level with me, maybe seeing the value of what it’s like for when we go on the road… and how other people react to, the Kansas jersey and things like that.”

Thrilled to be part of Player’s Era Festival

Kansas announced that it will be part of the Player’s Era Festival in Las Vegas in the 2025-26 season. The event debuted this season, with NIL money being awarded to the participating teams. Self said he spoke to coaches about the event, who said it was “first class all the way.”

“[They] said for a first year, it could not have been pulled off any better, based on what the coaches have told me and the experiences their players have had,” Self said.

Self has recently expressed interest in wanting to schedule in a way that maximizes Kansas’ revenue. Whether it be high-profile home-and-homes or neutral site opportunities, Self wants to reflect the new era of college athletics by scheduling to address both revenue and experience.

“This is going to be a big-time deal, and we’re thrilled to be part of it,” Self said. “Times have changed, and they’re going to continue to change, and schedule will be done more and more with the thought of, how does this benefit us from a revenue standpoint, not just from an experience standpoint. And with the Player’s Era, I think we’re pretty fortunate we still get to experience both.”

‘How do we just maximize men’s basketball or women’s basketball?’

Self was asked if there was an area about the current state of college basketball that he felt strongly about. He expressed in decisions being made that had college basketball at the forefront.

“I would say this, from a men’s basketball standpoint, I wish that we would start looking at it far more selfishly than we have,” Self said. “I wish we’d start looking at it as, hey, there’s a lot of people within college athletics that’s made decisions that’s in the best interest of them. When are we going to start doing that for men’s basketball?”

While football still obviously remains king, Self thinks the brands in college basketball are undervalued.

“I think there’s a lot of things that can be done with our college basketball brand that could certainly impact it in a way that’s a little bit different in how people view it now,” Self said.

Teams across the country are trying to find ways to improve college basketball’s brand. Self said the sport as a whole has played a better schedule in November and December in order to “have relevance before the football season is over.”

The playing fields across the sports will never be balanced. Football will remain at the top when it comes to viewership, NIL contributions, or other aspects. Therefore, Self wants to see college basketball be the best it can possibly be.

“How do we just maximize men’s basketball or women’s basketball?” Self asked. “How do we look at it totally selfishly, that this is best for us as opposed to trying to be a piece of a puzzle that doesn’t necessarily take our best interest at heart?… Our product is too good to be at 80% or 75%.”

Shakeel Moore practicing with no limitations

Self said that Kansas has had a productive week of practices with good attitudes and guys getting healthy. The biggest portion of that has been Shakeel Moore, who has battled a foot injury all season. Moore hasn’t had any limitations according to Self.

Moore has been envisioned as Kansas’ backup point guard. Self sees him being Dajuan Harris’ backup and thinks it frees up Zeke Mayo and David Coit to play off the ball.

“He’s the closest thing to a point that we have if we need somebody like Zeke playing off the ball some,” Self said. That kind of defines Zeke and Diggy’s role a little bit more easily too. So I think having Shak around and, potentially, I’m not going to say he is, but potentially an elite perimeter defender and elite athlete, I think helps.”