Ahmad Rashad, host of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshirement Show held Friday at stately Symphony Hall, enthusiastically welcomed the first of 11 inductees in the Class of 2017 to the stage: none other than Kansas coach Bill Self.
“Welcoming Bill Self to the Hall of Fame is my main man, Larry Brown … Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Self,” Rashad said to a thunderous standing ovation for Self, KU’s 15th-year coach, who strolled to the podium with his mentor Brown, who sat behind Self, and to his left.
“Wow!” Self exclaimed into the microphone — the only one improvised in his crisp 9-minute, 58-second talk to a crowd that included about 60 of Self’s former players from KU, Illinois, Tulsa, Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State.