KC Star- Self wants to take Kansas job

ATLANTA -- Bill Self reportedly wants the Kansas job.

According to The Kansas City Star, the 40-year-old coach will discuss with his Illinois employers this weekend his desire to take the Jayhawks' job. The Star cited one source, and said Self had cut short a family vacation to return to Illinois on Friday night.

A woman reached at the Self home in Champaign, Ill., said the coach was due home that night, but would not say what city he was flying in from.

The Chicago Sun-Times also reported Self's sudden return and said Self had met with a Kansas official while in Miami, according to a Self confidant. The paper said Self would meet with Illini athletics director Ron Guenther on Saturday. Illinois players have gone home for Easter, and the coach has promised to meet with them before a public announcement one way or the other.

Self, who has coached the Illini for three seasons, has a contract through 2008. He reportedly earns $900,000 a year, and it would cost Kansas about $500,000 to buy out the deal. Self was reportedly offered a five-year contract worth $1.5 million annually, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.

Kansas talked with Self by phone Thursday, but no formal statements were made by either Illinois' or KU's athletics departments. An Illinois player told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a team meeting was held on Friday, but provided no details.

Self is widely recognized as Kansas' first choice for the position, which was vacated on Monday by Roy Williams, who left for North Carolina after 15 seasons in Lawrence.

-- Wire reports