@JayHawkFanToo said:
Given his (and his family’s) Mid-West roots, it is highly unlikely that Coach Self would leave KU for Duke and the East Coast; if he ever gets the itch to move, the most likely destination is the NBA and not another equal or lesser college coaching position.
Sorry, thought I had already addressed the issues you raised and did not want to argue for the last word out of respect for you. But I see I had thought through it and not made it ALL clear.
That said, I will clarify.
I have never calculated percentages, but anecdotally speaking it seems about as many great coaches wind up coaching in places outside their academic and cultural roots, as inside (maybe even more, so once Self's children are adults, I believe his professional agenda will move quickly to the front burner, same as it was when he took the Illini job and said he and his family would have been happy to stay there had the KU job not come along.
There are a lot of great coaches that leave sooner, or later, for better opportunities. The job and its opportunities to achieve career goals often trump familiar location/culture. Self has said he was quite happy at Illinois, but KU was a special job. On the other hand, he once entertained the Fizzouri job. It's complicated and it seems one should not just assume a coach will stay or go because of culture.
Next, when Self was a young coach without FU money for life, being close to his folks in OKLAHOMA was probably more important than now when he could coach at any elite college program in CONUS and jet home as often as he wanted as fast, or nearly so, and maybe faster than in a winter storm, as he could drive from Lawrence. So proximity to his folks is likely going to take a back seat to his career for the next few years unless and until they become acutely ill in which case he might even take a job in Oklahoma.
Next, Self is at a career cross roads and KU and Dook are NOT equal in opportunity, at least if Self wants to join the ranks of the greatest coaches of all time by winning 4-5 rings, or preferably more. He has made it clear he does not see himself as coaching into old age a la LB and Coach K. So: if he wants to join the greats, he has to win a bunch of rings in a hurry. Duke presents a sharply higher probability for doing so for all the reasons I have mentioned before: Nike dump trucks, proximity to recruiting hot beds, more favorable product branding in those hotbeds, media-gaming complex favoritism to EST teams , and apparently favorable tournament seeding and whistling. If he wants to get a lot of rings at KU, a lot has to change. Nothing has to change at Duke, except for Coach K to retire as he has been planning to do for years.
Finally, I have already explained that the NBA seems NOT Self's end game, if he wants to go down as a great college coach. It's probably been mostly bargaining talk. Had he wanted a pro career he probably would have already jumped a number of times, because being esteemed as a great pro coach requires a lot of seasons, wins and championships, too.
It's improbable Self will ever turn pro.
It's almost certain he wants more rings to join the elite all time college coaches.
Duke is a sharply more probable place to accomplish his objectives and goal.
Hope that sharpens focus.
