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Bill Self, the longtime head coach of the Kansas men’s basketball team, was hospitalized Thursday after he experienced “some concerning symptoms.”

A university spokesperson confirmed the 62-year-old coach had two stents inserted during a heart procedure. 

Self remains “in good spirits” and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in the near future. 

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Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks instructs his players on the court in overtime against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum Jan. 17, 2023, in Manhattan, Kan. (Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

“The procedure went very well, and he is expected to make a full recovery,” the school said in a statement. “He is in good spirits and expects to be released from the hospital soon.”

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This isn’t the first time Self has been admitted to a hospital after a health scare. In 2023, he missed the Big 12 and NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournaments after he experienced chest tightness. Self also contended with balance issues at the time.

Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks stands on the court during a game against the Texas Longhorns at Moody Center March 4, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Chris Covatta/Getty Images)

The two-time national championship-winning coach underwent a heart catheterization and received a pair of stents to treat the blocked arteries.

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self reacts during the second half against the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., Nov. 19, 2024. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)

Self has patrolled the Kansas sideline since 2003. In addition to the two national titles, Self coached the Jayhawks to 14 consecutive Big 12 regular-season championships from 2004-2018. 

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In 2017, Self was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

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The final bowl bids for the 2024 postseason had barely made the rounds last December, and Army was faced with having no foe to complete its historic football season.

The American Conference champion Black Knights were slated to face Sun Belt champion Marshall in the Independence Bowl. But the Thundering Herd underwent a head coaching change on the same day as the announcement and suddenly dozens of players entered the NCAA transfer portal. Citing insufficient numbers to field a bowl team, Marshall withdrew ― the Sun Belt later fined Marshall $100,000 for withdrawing.

Fortunately for Army, days later the Independence Bowl turned to local favorite Louisiana Tech for the Dec. 28 game in Shreveport, the committee settling for a sub-.500 team to fill the ledger. The Black Knights went on to prevail 27-6.

Eight months later, several parties are still seething over the fiasco, the product of an ill-timed transfer portal schedule. For 2024-25, the winter filing window was Dec. 9-28 and spring window was April 16-25 ― the first period landed right between the end of the regular season and bowl games, and the latter came right after most college spring games were held.“A transfer portal window between the end of the season and bowl games?’’ a question posed by American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti. “What are we doing?”Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

“The current structure is a threat to the game, to team culture, to coaches building programs and student-athletes as constant motion de-emphasizes commitment and the true benefits of collegiate athletics.

“We need one portal window at the appropriate time of the year,’’ he added.

Ironically, Army lost star running back Kanye Udoh to the portal (he signed with Arizona State) less than two weeks after the bowl announcement and a week before the I-Bowl.

Earlier this year, the Football Bowl Subdivision coaches voted in favor of a proposal that would allow for a single 10-day period in January.

Pernetti said he fully believes student-athletes should be able to transfer one time freely, like the old rules.

“Coaches change, family situations change, it’s reasonable,’’ he said. “But any transfer beyond that should perhaps require a year in waiting.’’

The explosion of the transfer portal has radically changed the football landscape, forcing coaches to recruit their own players for a second time and scouring the wires for potential replacements and step-ups.“I can assure you,’’ Army coach Jeff Monken quipped, “not being able to sign a guy to an extended contract forces you to change every year.’’Academies like Army, Navy and Air Force cannot play on the same recruiting field, more likely to lose a player to the portal than receiving one since candidates need Congressional appointments, not to mention stringent academic standards.“Guys have always been able to leave West Point before their junior year … that hasn’t changed,’’ said Monken. Army also lost Elo Modozie to Georgia; wide receiver Isaiah Alston to Iowa State in 2024 and running back Anthony Adkins to UCLA in 2023. Rising junior cornerback Jaydan Mayes entered the portal but withdrew later and has been reinstated to the Army roster. “What’s changed is now they can leave for money, and so it makes it a little bit more enticing.’’

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To compete in the new world of college athletics, the University of Northern Colorado will need creativity, strategy and the involvement of the local community, athletic director Darren Dunn said this month.

In early June, the chaotic college sports landscape changed again. A federal judge in California finalized the settlement of a 5-year-old antitrust lawsuit between six former Division I student-athletes and the NCAA — allowing schools to begin directly paying athletes as of July 1.

Over the past four years, Division I college athletes had been permitted to earn money through sponsorships, endorsements, social media and other business arrangements — but not through the schools themselves. In addition to allowing direct pay from schools, the settlement will change how these NIL payments are regulated.

UNC decided to opt into the terms of the settlement.

“It’s a massive change in our world,” Dunn said. “It is a significant milestone in college athletics, and it means a lot more work for our staff — staying up with trends, providing opportunities for our student-athletes and to keep winning. Quite frankly, that’s what this is about.”

The House v. NCAA settlement includes nearly $2.6 billion in back pay over the next 10 years to all Division I athletes who competed in college sports from 2016 to 2024. This money in part will come from the NCAA by withholding a variety of fund payments annually made to schools and conferences.

At UNC, this will equal a loss of about $310,000 per year for the next decade. The Big Sky Conference, of which UNC is a full member, will lose about $2.7 million per year over the length of the payout from the 10 full-member schools’ reductions and the conference office, according to deputy commissioner Dan Satter.

“You always want a seat at the table and a chance to voice your perspective,” Satter said. “To not have that and to have financial repercussions that are disproportionate to the athletes impacted (in the Big Sky Conference) and reflected in the settlement is certainly frustrating.”

The defendants in the lawsuit were the NCAA and what were once the five major, or power, conferences: the Pac-12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The plaintiffs, the six former Division I student-athletes, represented the three classes of the settlement according to the 76-page agreement: Grant House, Sedona Price, Tymir Oliver, Nya Harrison, DeWayne Carter and Nicholas Solomon.

The settlement classes consisted of football and men’s basketball; women’s basketball; and the additional sports class. The classes in the settlement are differentiated based on the athletes’ earning potential in the sports.

The settlement money will be split into two funds: $1.976 billion for NIL claims and $600 million for the additional compensation claims, according to the agreement.

Inside the NIL claims money is $71.5 million for video game usage or injury for football and men’s basketball; $1.815 billion for broadcast usage for football and men’s and women’s basketball; and $89.5 million for third-party injury for all three classes who received NIL payments after July 2021.

The $600 million for the additional compensation is comprised of $570 million to the Power 5 football and men’s basketball athletes and $30 million for the additional sports athletes.

All schools in the defendant conferences were bound by all of the terms of the settlement. Schools in other Division I conferences were only bound to the settlement if they opted into the terms. No representatives of Division I schools outside of the Power 5 Conferences were involved in the settlement, according to Satter.

He said the conference is encouraged by its place in college athletics because the Big Sky appeals to what attracted fans to the sports.

“We’re going to be more and more what people fell in love with about college athletics, and we’re going to have more of what is a traditional model as opposed to the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) level and certainly the Power 4,” Satter said.

UNC head football coach Ed Lamb said the impact of the opt-in won’t be significant for the Bears’ program. Lamb said it was important for him to know university leadership from President Andy Feinstein to Dunn and himself were in “alignment to do everything we can do to be competitive.”

Lamb also said he wanted to know the university leaders were interested in continuing to play at the Football Championship Subdivision level and that the Big Sky Conference is the right place for UNC.

“And I feel that from the people who run the university,” Lamb said.

Lamb said the biggest revenue stream he can control is trying to win games. The coach soon begins his third season with the Bears, and the team has won once in 23 games the past two seasons. Preseason practices begin Monday.

“It’s going to produce more butts in the seats and ticket sales,” Lamb said of winning. “When there’s a winning football program, student enrollment tends to increase. Those are the things I’ve got to keep my focus on.”

UNC men’s basketball coach Steve Smiley also said he was glad the university opted into the terms of the settlement.

For a while, UNC officials had hesitations about going along with the terms. The sticking point for the university was a component of the settlement impacting roster sizes. The settlement does away with scholarship limits. Roster limits are in place for schools that opt in, but this mandate comes with a grandfather clause.

Until discussions and negotiations between the sides working out the settlement were held, there was a possibility schools opting into the settlement would have been required to cut roster spots. Schools that opt in don’t have to decrease roster sizes at this point.

At UNC and other Big Sky Conference schools, the matter of roster sizes was a concern because of a loss of enrollment revenue. That was not a direction UNC wanted to go. The university has been working for several years to improve its financial stability through higher enrollment.

Dunn said UNC teams would’ve lost about 50 roster spots under the previous version of the settlement. This equals about $1 million in enrollment revenue, he said.

“Losing head count is not a good thing,” Smiley added, also noting his team is set for the 2025-26 season and the impacts of House will be factored into plans for future seasons. “In my circles and talking to people, it appears it will give the most flexibility in operating in the future. And I think that’s a good thing. There was not a downside with our department, knowing we didn’t have to lose student-athletes.”

UNC decided to opt into the settlement for a couple of other reasons, Dunn said. For one, the university wants to participate at the highest level of Division I athletics. The university also wants to provide additional resources to athletes. How UNC compensates athletes remains in the discussion and planning phases. This is where UNC’s interest in being more creative and strategic becomes a focus.

Dunn said the university had not made any NIL payments to student-athletes as of July 18. This does not include payments from the Bear Pride Collective, summer school scholarships or Alston academic awards.

Dunn said the university will have to self-generate revenue to pay athletes, and there are a few ways this can be accomplished. Among the simplest of these options are finding sponsorships, fundraising and game guarantees. Game guarantees are when a larger school, such as the University of Colorado, pays a sum of money to a smaller school such as UNC to play at the bigger’s school’s home site.

This will happen in 2028 and 2031 when the Bears football team returns to Folsom Field in Boulder for games against the Buffs. UNC will receive a total of $1.05 million for the two games. UNC football will receive $825,000 for two games against Wyoming in 2026 and 2030, according to FBSchedules.com earlier this month.

The women’s basketball team last year played a guaranteed game at Brigham Young University. These games can generate anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $50,000, Dunn said.

This is the type of money that could go toward paying athletes under House. Dunn said he’s also heard of other schools putting a fee on tickets to generate additional revenue.

In a statement on House v. NCAA, UNC said this new era will require unprecedented collaboration with the athletic department, alumni and the Greeley community.

“For us to continue to be competitive in this environment, we’re going to have to get more people involved,” Dunn said this month. “There are a lot of people who live in the area who are not alumni. There are a lot of businesses that are successful here. I think the better we are, the better we can promote Greeley and the better we can promote the Weld County area.”

The Bear Pride Collective was established in 2023, after athletes were allowed to begin receiving NIL payments. The collective works through a third-party organization to facilitate NIL opportunities or transactions between UNC student-athletes and fans, donors and businesses, the university said at the time.

The collective is not officially affiliated with the UNC Athletic Department. Though it’s recommended by UNC to support its student-athletes, the collective is a separate entity. At the time the Bear Pride Collective was established, it was run by an Atlanta-based company called Student Athlete NIL.

As of now, Dunn does not see a change in how the Bear Pride Collective operates, he said. The collective is another option for donors to give to UNC athletes. A representative from the Bear Pride Collective couldn’t be reached for comment about its role under the House settlement terms.

“I think at some point down the road, there might be less options, but right now, I see it as a benefit,” Dunn said.

Under the House settlement, booster collectives may pay student-athletes for NIL as long as all of the payments are for valid business purposes, according to Ropes & Gray. All NIL transactions with a total value of $600 or more must be reported to the newly created College Sports Commission. The commission was set up to oversee the new system under the settlement.

Another term of the settlement stipulates schools may share revenue with athletes at an annual capped amount of $20.5 million per school for this year. The cap is expected to increase by about $1 million each year after 2025-26 to an estimated $32.9 million in 2034-35.

UNC won’t give athletes $20 million, but the university will do “the best we can with the resources we have,” Dunn said.