Perkins: Coaches to net extensions

Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino recently signed a contract extension.

Look for men’s basketball coach Bill Self, as well as women’s hoops coach Bonnie Henrickson, to do the same soon.

Self is beginning the fourth year of a five-year contract. Henrickson has three years left on her contractual agreement.

“Bill and I have had some discussions about extending it,” KU athletic director Lew Perkins said Thursday. “I think Bill has done a great job here. He is a perfect fit for KU. Hopefully he’ll be here a long time.

“Bonnie has done a great job,” Perkins added. “We are talking with Bonnie (about an extension). I feel very good about our basketball programs. These are without a doubt two of the best coaches in the country.”

Perkins did not discuss specifics such as monetary figures.

KU’s fourth-year athletic director said contract matters were blown out of proportion in the media.

“I think people get so concerned and upset about those things,” he said of some fans. “If you have a good relationship with coaches, it happens. We get it done.”

Self, who is out on the road recruiting, says he was enthused about committing additional years to KU.

“Lew and I have visited, and I do believe we both believe that this could be extended in a short period of time,” Self said.

“Kansas is everything I thought it would be,” added Self, who left the University of Illinois after three seasons to take over for Roy Williams at KU.

“We’ve had (three) good years with the last two years disappointing finishes. The foundation has always been strong (at KU). We feel the pieces are in place to continue to build on the great success KU has had.

“We (he and assistants) feel like we have in place how we want to coach our team and lead our program into the future. We are really excited about the future,” Self added.

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Dinner at the ADs: KU’s men’s basketball players headed to Perkins’ house Thursday night for dinner.

Members of the baseball team dined at the Perkins residence on Monday and softball team on Wednesday.

“We have dinner, sit and relax and talk,” said Perkins who makes sure players and coaches from each KU team make it to his house twice in a four-year period.

“It’s good to visit with everybody, especially the freshmen,” Perkins added. “We want to make sure they realize we are here for them. We’re always available to talk with any of our student-athletes. It’s a nice way to get to know them and say thank you.”

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Bulls-Sonics: Just over 10,000 tickets have been sold for the Chicago Bulls-Seattle SuperSonics NBA exhibition game set for Oct. 15 in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will feature the return of former KU guard Kirk Hinrich (Bulls) and forward Nick Collison (Sonics) as well as former KU assistant Bob Hill, head coach of the Sonics.

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Singler in-home: Self, who has been out recruiting the past two weeks, on Tuesday had an in-home visit with Kyle Singler, a 6-8 senior forward from South Medford, Ore. Singler will visit KU for the Oct. 13 Late Night in the Phog. The No. 4 player in the Class of 2007 will visit Duke this weekend. He’s already visited finalists Arizona and UCLA.

“The visit with the KU coaching staff certainly improved my feelings about Kansas. I was able to get a better feeling for the school and program,” Singler told rivals.com.