North Carolina guard Stilman White was answering a question Saturday . . . about exactly what I do not remember. It does not matter, not really.
What matters is he was doing so badly, as is to be expected for a freshman thrust into a starting role and all that entails because of an injury. And by badly, I mean it was impossible to get a feel for the kid. It was into this moment Tar Heels coach Roy Williams stepped in with a story about toast, as in toasted bread.
It led to White talking about a game on his iPhone called Jet Pack, and eventually his "I am the best" declaration when asked for a Tar Heels Jet Pack ranking. We saw White in that moment, his swagger and probably what Williams sees, which was probably his intention all along.
This is quintessential Williams. Few know how to work a room — of media, of players, of coaches, of just random people — as him. As great of a coach as Williams is, he is probably a better people person.
This is not about Roy Williams, though. This is about the guy who had to replace him at Kansas.
A lot has been written over the years about how hard it was for Bill Self. He was asked about it again Saturday, so many years later, as North Carolina prepares to play Kansas in the Elite Eight a day later. What I really wanted to know, though, was how much harder it is when the guy you are replacing not only won, won big, won often but also won over every Jayhawk with his big, all-consuming personality?
"Well, I got a lot of personality, too," Self deadpanned.
Did that come out wrong? I asked.
"No, no," he said.
He went on to tell a story about talking to his dad when contemplating taking the Kansas job way back when. He has told the story a couple of times, yet it is worth repeating because there is a lesson on taking chances and betting on yourself and never letting fear talk you out of going for your dreams.
Coach Self: "I don't know if I can take that job. Roy won so much. He's loved there, and all that stuff, blah, blah, blah, blah."
Dad: "You know what, you're right. You're exactly right."
Coach Self: "So you don't think I should take it?"
Dad: "No, I think you're scared to follow him, you're right. I don't think you should take it."
"He basically told me I was soft, which is a good call, because I was being soft," Self said. "And the bottom line is, hey, Roy Williams . . . Phog Allen, Larry Brown, doesn't make any difference, the head coach at Kansas is going to win. And so I just really believed following a guy like that, I think could have been hard, but I tried to make it as easy as possible because I was never intimidated by his success."
Nor did Self try to be him. He always and unapologetically was himself. Because coach Self is right. He has personality, just not coach Williams' brand of all-encompassing personality.
Self told stories, too, on Saturday, charmed the media, praised his kids and helped everybody do their jobs by answering questions honestly and with color. He is just not Roy Williams.
The fact that he never tried to be is a big reason why he has been so successful. The mistake anybody — players, coaches, business execs, politicians and on and on — tend to make when replacing a really popular person is they either try to make that person the enemy or copy them entirely. Both are a response to feeling like their standing is somehow tethered to whoever came before.
The smart ones figure out this is a losing proposition.
Coach Self came right up against this fact almost immediately. When Williams left for North Carolina, there was so much hurt and anger in Lawrence and among Jayhawks that it would have been impossible for the incoming coach not to internalize it.
"It kind of upset me because that made me feel like they must really want him here a lot more than they want me here," Self said, "which they did."
This is not Self borrowing a page from Williams' self-deprecating playbook. This is the truth. How Self won them over was slowly, by winning, by being himself and, yes, that national championship from the amazing game in 2008 against Memphis definitely helped.
Mostly, though, he won them over with seasons like this.
This was not supposed to be a "good" year by Jayhawks standards. The expectations were not there. This was supposed to be the year that Baylor broke through, or Mizzou re-emerged, or Kansas State snuck into contention. How this Kansas team won another Big 12 championship and finds itself in yet another Elite Eight is a testament to defense and pedigree and, yes, Bill Self.
He may not work a room like Williams, and that is OK. Because he is a pretty damn good coach doing things his way and by just being himself.
