In 2016-17, Bill Self Says Freshmen Will be Critical in National Championship Race

ROSELLE, N.J. — Kansas coach Bill Self says the loaded batch of incoming college freshmen — which includes new Jayhawk Josh Jackson — will play a critical role in determining the NCAA championship in 2016-17.

That would be quite a departure from this past season when there wasn’t a single one-and-done player in the Final Four, where national champion Villanova as well as North Carolina, Oklahoma and Syracuse were all led by upperclassmen.

“I like what Denzel [Valentine] said [in accepting the AP Player of the Year Award at the Final Four], it’s not a competition between seniors and freshman,” Self told SNY.tv exclusively on Friday at the NJ Coaches’ Clinic at Roselle Catholic High School. “It’s not a competition. Everything’s cyclical and guys develop at different speeds and rates but I do think that it was great for the college game to have so many veterans have an impact on their college programs [this past year].