For Kansas coach Bill Self, the wait probably seemed longer than the 70 days since the Final four loss on March 31. Winners always want to get back in the win column. Coach Self and Kansas basketball fans still had a nasty taste from that long Saturday night in San Antonio. On June 10, the USA Basketball Under 18 team helped the Hall of Fame coach return to winning ways with an opening tournament victory over the Dominican Republic 105-73. Self and all Jayhawks were happy to see him smiling.
If that opening win wasn’t enough, the USA’s 118- 26 blowout of Panama the next night made up for the past 10 weeks, sort of.