Self expresses enthusiasm for ‘fun,’ ‘fast’ squad at Late Night

Men’s Basketball

Kansas head coach Bill Self addresses the crowd during Late Night in the Phog on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Friday night’s men’s basketball portion of Late Night in the Phog featured an extended riff on the reality show “Love Island” that culminated in Kansas coach Bill Self selecting not just one of his players but all 16 — the entire team.

“I love this team,” he said in the skit.

In a speech to assembled fans, setting the tone for the season ahead, he emphasized that the sentiment he expressed wasn’t just made for TV — it was the truth.

“I do love this team,” he reiterated. “This team is fun. This team is fast. This team has a blend of youthful exuberance and some vets and you know something, last year’s team did OK. But OK at the University of Kansas is not good enough.”

He continued: “This year’s team has a real chance if we like each other, if we enjoy each other, if we play well together, if we’re unselfish, but you know something else that we got to have? We got to have you.”

Self was exhorting the fans as they got their first look at the new players; in return, nine players received the opportunity on Friday night to take in the Allen Fieldhouse atmosphere as Jayhawks for the first time. That encompassed the majority of KU’s roster: freshmen Corbin Allen, Samis Calderon, Paul Mbiya, Darryn Peterson and Kohl Rosario and transfers Melvin Council Jr., Jayden Dawson, Nginyu Ngala and Tre White.

All did plenty to endear themselves to KU fans, some as soon as they were introduced — Council did a cartwheel, and Rosario threw his hat into the crowd — and received plenty of applause from the crowd in return, especially Peterson, although the fans reserved the biggest cheer for the last player introduced on the night, sophomore center Flory Bidunga.

A skit with surprisingly high production values had KU coach Bill Self traveling through a championship-ring-operated “time portal” in period-appropriate costume to recruit Jayhawks of various eras. It featured, among others, Flory Bidunga as Wilt Chamberlain, Tony Bland as Paul Pierce, Darryn Peterson as Danny Manning, Kurtis Townsend as James Naismith and Joe Dooley as Clyde Lovellette and Brennan Bechard, Jeremy Case, and Jacque Vaughn as themselves with special cameo appearances from Rosario and KJ Adams.

After the “Love Island” sketch, Self conducted his usual giveaway to a pair of KU students — who were both, as it happened, from Parker, Colorado. Neither was able to convert a halfcourt shot on their own — senior John Riddle shooting on his own behalf, and sophomore Savannah Perea represented by newly signed Cleveland Cavalier Zeke Mayo — but both were successful from a little closer to the basket and earned $7,500 each.

Then came the scrimmage, which split players into crimson and blue teams. A back-and-forth 15-minute period saw a red team led by Darryn Peterson and Flory Bidunga emerge victorious, 27-23. Peterson led all players with 12 points on 12 shots, and no one else scored more than five or attempted more than five shots.

One particularly exciting sequence saw Peterson and Rosario trade alley-oop dunks, Peterson’s off a feed from Calderon and Rosario’s from Council.

Self said afterward that he wasn’t particularly pleased or displeased by any element of the scrimmage, while acknowledging that “usually I leave out of here not very happy.”

“I don’t think we’ll play that way in real games, but it was fine,” he added. “You know, one thing is different though, that when you get bodies out there and adrenaline’s flowing, you notice how tired everybody got quick. That was good for them, though.”

Senior guard Jayden Dawson did not participate in the scrimmage. Self had previously said on Wednesday that Dawson was dealing with a sore knee, but that they didn’t expect it to be anything major.

With Late Night in the rearview mirror, the beginning of the men’s basketball season draws ever nearer. KU has a road exhibition at Louisville next Friday, another preseason contest against Fort Hays State on Oct. 28 and then its season opener on Nov. 3 against Green Bay.

Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.

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