Many would agree that at a November session on ethics, Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self was the star of the show.

A six-person panel quizzed by ethicist Michael Josephson included Self and chancellor Robert Hemenway. Josephson was quick to involve both in discussions of morality and how it needed to be woven fully into any university fabric.

Self can handle himself well in about any situation, formal or otherwise. He made a big impression on those that night at Woodruff Auditorium where Josephson put heavy emphasis on the issues of character and competence. The KU coach provided a tremendous testimonial to what the athletic program should be and how he tries to project it properly.

Asked by moderator Josephson how he recruited young men, Self outlined a formula that should delight any mommy, daddy or guardian. That may be the key factor in the charming Self’s ability to recruit so many top-flight people.

Self explained that when he visited homes, he tried to impress on the player and the family that whether the program had a youngster for only one or as long as five years, the goal always was to see that individual leave better-educated.

Then came the kicker. Along with whatever educational experience a kid has, Self wants them to leave equipped to be better husbands, parents, friends and citizens because of their exposure to the Jayhawk Nation. He added that a coach also needed to keep asking himself if he was the best citizen he could be. The crowd clearly was won over.

That’s not just whisky talk. Self and his people work hard at that, and we can hope the rest of the athletic department people do likewise. Don’t forget the females — better wives, mothers, friends, citizens.

Then Josephson asked Hemenway if Self’s job would be secure if Bill remained a moral stalwart but had three losing seasons in a row. How’s that for putting the big kahuna on the spot?

Hemenway did a little shadow-boxing. “I don’t think a coach like Bill Self will disappoint you,” he answered. He also opined that a coach like Self never would have three straight losing seasons because of his character, his expertise and his intensity (add recruiting). But what if?

KU’s never had a more moral, ethical, dedicated coach than the late Dick Harp (1957-64). Played here, assisted here, came within a single point of the national title in triple overtime in 1957. But he had 7-18, 12-13 and 13-12 seasons in 1962-64, and Ted Owens held the job the next season. Wins clearly meant more to athletic director Wade Stinson and chancellor Clarke Wescoe than character.

What would KU have done if choir boy Roy Williams had posted three straight subpar records? We can only hope Self never runs into something like that. I doubt he will. But should that happen, would his great character, morality and sterling representation of KU overpower an ugly W-L ratio?

l

How about a little lionizing?

Cal Ramsey, a longtime Wilt Chamberlain friend, first met the Big Dipper in 1955 when they were Parade Magazine high school All-Americans. He’s quoted in Robert Cherry’s new book on Wilt:

“I know Wilt used to drive cross-country to Los Angeles after the NBA season was over. Once, he told me, he stopped someplace in the Southwest and a mountain lion jumped on him. He said he killed it with his bare hands. Now, I don’t know how true that is, but he showed me a scar on his arm he said was from the claw marks.”

Wonder if that’s the same wound Dippy displayed after his first game at Missouri when he charged that some hungry Tiger “bit me on the arm!” Since he was big enough and strong enough to go bear-hunting with a twig, maybe he really did zap a leaping leo.

Wilt just happened to be ahead of his time on the lion bit. There have been reliable sightings in Lawrence, and tests of droppings found in those areas verify some kind of cougar presence.

Don’t laugh, fellow staff member Dave Toplikar has seen a lion, so have the wife and daughter of former KU hammer-thrower Bill Penny, and retired district judge Ralph King Jr. has had sightings around his property south of town. Others have seen such felines. At least one such animal is among us, maybe more.

The lions seem to be moving east and south because of the growing presence of prey like deer — and there’s been a decimation of other predators. We have deer aplenty in the Lawrence-Douglas County area. You think the lion or lions sighted here died, were killed or just moved on?

Whatever, lots of people have altered their walking and jogging regimens around KU’s west campus and parts of the Alvamar golf layout. TV personality Jim Simpson says all cats, including tabby at home, have a basic C-A-K-E mentality: Chase, attack, kill and eat. You don’t want to run into one of those suckers looking for breakfast. A mountain biker was killed and another badly injured by a lion in January south of Los Angeles.

Mature cougars can weigh from 130 to 225 pounds; adults can leap 18 feet onto tree limbs. “Don’t be around when they’re angry or hungry,” warns Simpson.

Unless, of course, you’re as big, strong and boastful as Wilt Chamberlain in his alleged encounter with such a beast. Fabrication? Maybe, but considering all the other things that happened to Chamberlain in all sorts of venues, could’ve happened. Uncle Dippy had a way of being where the action was.

Meanwhile, if you’re out and about here, watch your back — and your front, and both sides, too.