NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL FOUR: VILLANOVA VS KANSAS

April 1, 2022

Bill Self

Dajuan Harris Jr.

Christian Braun

Jalen Wilson

Ochai Agbaji

Caesars Superdome

Kansas Jayhawks

Semi-Finals Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Kansas.

Q. I want to ask you a question about Christian Braun's and Dajuan Harris' relationship. It goes back a while. They've become good friends. I'm sure you've seen the picture circulating. What did you learn from those two that made you know they were great friends?

COACH SELF: I think they have been boys since sixth grade, if I'm not mistaken. Dajuan is from Columbia and Christian was in Burlington, now in the Overland Park area. And they played on the same AAU team. I know they spent a ton of time together in the summertime when the kids from out of the area would come and stay in Kansas City area to practice.

They're great friends. They're like brothers. They bring the best out in each other. They rag on each other. I would say they're critics of each other, but you can tell that they truly love each other.

It is a unique relationship. And I really feel like the Braun family has done a lot for a lot of kids outside their family, but has probably done as much for Dajuan as anybody and played a crucial role in helping him with his life.

Q. Fun question about suits versus casual wear. Jay was just in here. Said he didn't pack a single suit for this trip and plans to wear recorder zips and sweats. Do you think coaches will ever go back to suits or just keep wearing casual wear? Is it good for the game? Are you fine with it?

COACH SELF: Coaching against Jay, I'm very happy that there's no wardrobe, suits, because nobody could compete with him in that regard. But I kind of like the way we're doing it. I do. I hope it stays casual moving forward.

I know, I think our leagues will probably have a lot to do with what the coaches do, because in our league we voted to unanimously do this. And so we are kind of bound by that. I guess it could be year to year. I like the direction it's moving. And it's certainly a little bit more comfortable. And you save money on dry cleaning.

Q. Do you have any superstitions pregame or during-the-game superstitions?

COACH SELF: I'm not superstitious at all. I think there's certain routines that work a lot better than others. Seriously on game days I wear similar clothes. I eat the same food every meal. My routine is almost exactly the same. And if I find something that works, I'll definitely stick with it. But I would consider myself semi-superstitious but not like a baseball manager that would never walk on the chalk line or anything like that.

Q. What is something that you and your staff have done to really block out the noise this weekend, just focus on Villanova?

COACH SELF: I don't know that we've really done a lot except limit their probably access to anything other than us, so to speak. We got here Wednesday night. We were all together the entire night. Last night we were here all together, players apart from coaches. But we've done everything together.

And the only free time, with the schedule that we've been on, have been kind of late afternoons and guys usually like to nap around that time. So it hasn't been that difficult. I guess if you watched ESPN or sports all the time or if you lived on your phone all the time, you can certainly be distracted by that.

I want our guys to enjoy it. I don't plan on taking their phones from them. I've done that. In 2008 we took their phones from them because I didn't want to take any chances, but I really want the guys to enjoy it. And I think we're acting mature enough that we can. I actually trust them.

Q. There was a lot of discussion here yesterday with Dr. Emmert about the length of time it's taking for enforcement cases to be finished. This will be three full seasons for you played since your notice of allegations. What do you make of that timeline that you guys have operated under and where it's going from here?

COACH SELF: Well, I can't comment on anything that's ongoing with the case about anything, but I do hope that the end is soon. I believe we're getting closer. And I know that no one probably from any party has wanted this to go as long as it has. But I do believe that the end is soon.

Q. Are you using your 2012 runners-up experience here to inspire your team to finish the job this year in New Orleans?

COACH SELF: We've talked about it, that we were here. But I'm not a big believer on the past having a ton to do with what happens next. In '18 we got it handed to us pretty good, obviously, by the same team -- same program, not the same team. And that's been mentioned but we haven't dwelled on that. So all we're trying to do is live in the present. Learn from the past but certainly live in the present.

Q. Were there any teams in the Big 12 this season that resemble any of the style Villanova plays?

COACH SELF: No, not really. Our team was very defensive-oriented. We had some of the best defensive teams in the country in our league. But even from that standpoint, there was a common thread about not breaking down, be sound, those sorts of things. But how the ball was forced and the switching and things like that was certainly a little bit different.

So I don't believe that we've gone against anybody during our regular season that would actually prepare us for the style that Villanova plays.

We've got guys in our league that may post guards, but we don't have guys in our league that have guards get the ball at 20 feet and dribble into a post-up. It's totally different and certainly not easy to prepare for.

Q. Is there anything you can remember from the last time you played Villanova in the Final Four?

COACH SELF: I get ticks whenever I think about it. So I remember we started the game off on a 2-0 run. That was about the highlight of that particular game. I actually watched it this week. And they were fabulous.

That to me -- we had a chance to play Kentucky in '12 in the finals -- and to me that was the best team of that five- or six-year period that I had seen in college basketball. And I really felt like the team that Villanova had in '18 was the best college basketball team in the last decade. I really believe that.

Q. Just playing in the bubble last year and then having this experience, going out and practicing in front of the fans, what does it mean for you to have March Madness back for you and your players?

COACH SELF: I think, two years ago the tournament was taken from all of us, as many things across the world were. That was probably a year where our team was probably equipped to do quite well. We had a nice squad. It was probably going to be the -- we would have been the 1 seed and probably the overall No. 1 seed, which doesn't guarantee success, but certainly we would have been in the game. That obviously was taken from everybody.

And last year, it wasn't the same. The way that the year ended for us, we were playing our best ball of the year, and we had two starters get COVID going into the tournament. And that kind of annihilated us.

So this is the first time since 2019 that we've actually had a tournament that we actually feel like we've participated in and had a chance. Even though that year we didn't perform well.

So I'm excited. I think our players are excited. Several of them were on the '20 team that might have had a chance. We're jacked to be here and soaking it all in.

Q. Every press conference we ask about Remy and he's had a great tournament. But Dajuan is still the starting point guard. How has he handled all this, all the Remy talk and less minutes?

COACH SELF: He didn't care. Juan is having the time of his life. And if anybody had ever studied Juan's road to get to Kansas, would understand why he would be happy with whatever is thrown his way. He's a remarkable young man. And for anybody to go through that much hardship and family tragedy as what he has is truly incredible that a guy of his age could handle it as well as he has.

And so Juan could care less. And I'll be candid with you, Remy may care, but he didn't care much either. They've got a pretty good partnership going.

Q. At what point does it hit you that you're playing these last games with Ochai and David? When does that emotion start to set in?

COACH SELF: It hasn't set in probably yet. I told them this morning when we finished practice, I said, I know you guys can't wait to get rid of me, but why don't we do this one more time. That would be my goal, is to have one more practice.

When things don't end great, that happens for probably 50 percent of America, sometimes the end outweighs the journey. In this particular situation, the end will equal or surpass the journey.

So I think there's a unique closeness that we all feel towards each other -- and for a lot of different reasons, things that have transpired this year. But I'm going to miss those guys. But I hadn't even thought about playing without them yet. That's something that we'll postpone until whenever the end is here and hopefully it won't be for 72 or so more hours.

Q. You mentioned you watched 2018 this week. You've largely tried to avoid that. Why did you watch it this week?

COACH SELF: I didn't really watch it to try to have memories; I watched it to see when they backed their guards down, did they have the same action off the ball and stuff like that. When I said I watched it, I got through about 12 minutes of it. And after that, it was very obvious that I wasn't going to learn very much from it.

Q. (Off microphone)

COACH SELF: Yes, there's other tapes to watch. That was probably good for me to see from the standpoint of how dangerous they can be when they've got it cooking, which they're capable of, because they've got guys that can stretch it from all spots.

Q. You've had this group for a couple years now. And it seems like when you tried to teach them a lesson, they've had experience with it, that those words mean something. What do you think it does to have a team that's been together this long, that core, how does that help when you get to this stage?

COACH SELF: I said this all along. I mean, experience is important. I don't believe that experience trumps talent. But having both, I think, is the remedy for success more than anything else. And I think we have that.

And when we won it in '08 that was also a team that lost in the first round. That was also a team that couldn't get through the Elite Eight and then things fell right.

These guys have been through their heartache and been through some tough times, which I think has prepared them for these times. So I do think experience does matter.

Q. For the players, you're here at the Final Four. In what ways has basketball impacted your life the most?

OCHAI AGBAJI: Basketball, I mean, especially here at Kansas, my time here, I've met a lot of people, new faces and a lot of new networking and just a lot of new connections.

JALEN WILSON: I'd say basketball has brought me to my closest friends. People who I call brothers now. Memories that I'll never forget, especially in college. I mean just definitely brought me to a whole other world. Basketball is my entire life. I don't know what I would do without it.

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: I would say the relationships I built with basketball and just traveling, like what Jalen said, my brothers, has been fun throughout these years. And I got a lot of little brothers now.

DAJUAN HARRIS JR.: Basketball is everything. If I didn't have basketball I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't have basketball I'd probably be doing something I ain't supposed to be doing. I'm just grateful that I get to play this sport that I'm playing now.

Q. Ochai, how do you explain your journey from a guy who didn't have many offers second semester of high school as a senior to the point that yesterday your coach went out of his way to point out you could be the most decorated player at Kansas since Danny Manning?

OCHAI AGBAJI: I mean, it's an honor even being in the same sentence as Danny Manning and all those other great players. It just shows a lot about running your own race. A lot of people from high school, they could either come out hot or they come out underrated. I think just everyone has their own path. And that's just how it is.

Q. What do you try to do with shooting the ball in this big venue? How do you calibrate yourself to this spacious arena and stadium? What do you tell the players and what have you learned about shooting in this type of venue?

COACH SELF: I haven't mentioned it to the players. I mean, I think that we can make a bigger deal out of things than what actually exists. Bottom line is the rim seems soft to me. And depth perception seems good. And there's absolutely no reasons why we shouldn't shoot the ball well here. And that's how I'm looking at this.

JALEN WILSON: We got to put up shots yesterday. About to put up some more now. And maybe after the first couple of shots maybe it feels different, but after that it's just normal shooting.

CHRISTIAN BRAUN: The same thing. Coach just tells us to jump up and shoot it and stop aiming it. I'm going to try that. Hope it works.

Q. Ochai, after winning the Midwest, you and Remy recreated the Tom Brady and Bob Gronkowski "Bad Boys for Life" by Diddy. What message were you guys trying to send making that video?

OCHAI AGBAJI: We weren't trying to send a message or anything. It was just a fun media post for our fans, basically.

Q. Ochai, any thoughts that your career at Kansas is coming to an end? Have you had a chance to think about it?

OCHAI AGBAJI: I've had a lot of time to think about it, just my time here. Like I said, all the people I've met, all the experiences I've had. But, no, it's great to be in this moment and to be ending my career like this.

Q. How is playing in such a tough defensive conference really prepared you guys for the postseason?

DAJUAN HARRIS JR.: Really give credit to our coach. He's on us about every single thing about anything. So if you mess up, he's going to get on you. If you mess up on the little things, he'll get on you. So all the credit goes to Coach and all the coaching staff.

Q. Dajuan, what's your relationship like with Remy on and off the court?

DAJUAN HARRIS JR.: It's great. Last night, Remy was in our room talking, me and CB's room talking. He be coming in there sometimes on away games. It's great. It's fun playing with him. He gives us a lot of energy, and he lets me get a lot of pressure off the ball and I let him make plays a lot. So it's just fun being around him. He's a good player.