Dallas ? Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton had one piece of advice for former OSU assistant Bill Self the day the 40-year-old Self was named head coach at Kansas University.

“I said, ‘Bill, don’t change anything until you’ve won a national title,'” 67-year-old gray-haired Sutton revealed Thursday at Big 12 Conference Media Day.

“I said, ‘That’s the only way you are going to surpass Roy (Williams, Self’s predecessor).’ Lo and behold, I pick up the newspaper and he’s painted a big Jayhawk on the floor. I called him (Self) and said, ‘That’s the first big mistake you’ve made.”’

Sutton, who was Self’s boss at OSU from 1990 to ’93, can relax. KU fans don’t seem to mind the changes implemented by the personable Self.

“From a philosophy standpoint, Roy and Bill believe things should be done the same way,” Sutton said. “They (Jayhawks) will still play the good defense. They will run when the opportunity is there. They may not score as many points as Roy’s teams did.

“I think Bill was the best selection for Kansas, and Roy made the right decision in going to North Carolina.”

Sutton Thursday also fielded the annual question about his own future at OSU.

“When I feel I’m not helping young men, I’ll step down. It could be a year from now, two years from now, five years from now,” Sutton said. “I look at the manager of the Marlins (Jack McKeon). I marvel at that guy. He’s 72. He was manager of the Omaha Royals when I was at Creighton. He is a great, great coach.”

Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton makes a point while waving his arms as he responds to a question. Sutton participated in Big 12 Conference Media Day Thursday in Dallas.

• Snyder discusses investigation: Missouri coach Quin Snyder was peppered by members of the media with a slew of questions about the NCAA investigation of the Tigers.

“Obviously, the investigation is something we’re taking very seriously. What our task is is to cooperate fully, be as thorough as we can in that process,” Snyder said. “Ultimately, like in any business, if there were mistakes made, we’ll move to correct them, tighten the ship and hopefully look back on this experience as something that made us a better program, me a better coach and as a university learn from it.”

• Slocum grateful: Texas A&M senior Andy Slocum is back with the team after spending part of his summer serving a jail sentence for possession of steroids.

“Everything is behind me,” he said. “I’m getting ready to step up and lead the team. I appreciate everyone who stood behind me through all this stuff. It made me stronger as a person.”

• What a relief: Some Big 12 coaches commented on the fact Kansas lost a pair of lottery picks in Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.

“Thank God,” Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge quipped. “If you live where I live, playing Kansas three years in a row, having Hinrich and Collison staring down the barrel at you … I didn’t think they would ever graduate.

“There was the question after their third year, will they go to the NBA? I can tell you honestly I had several prayers with my God, ‘Don’t you think it’s the best thing for them?’ I was turned down. I was declined. I must be living wrong.”

• Bumpy flight: Wayne Simien hopes the “Road to San Antonio” will be a lot smoother than Thursday morning’s flight to Dallas.

“We almost got blown out of the sky flying that little plane,” the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Simien said of the eight-seat university jet.

“I thought I was gonna die coming down, but we made it through. Coach Williams … he would have been scared, trying to bury his head in a book or something. Coach Self tries to act all cool, calm and collected, but deep inside I know he was scared, too,” Simien joked.

Simien, who recounted the flight of himself, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Self and associate athletic director Larry Keating with a grin, might have been exaggerating a bit.

Langford’s version of the flight: “It was all right. I was listening to my head phones, typing my column for the Kansan.”

Langford is doubling as a basketball player/once-a-week writer for the university paper this semester.

• Bob and Bill: Texas Tech coach Bob Knight taped a spot for a commercial, then walked right in front of Self, who was conducting a mass interview for the broadcast media.

“I just made out my will and left to you all the press conferences I won’t have to attend,” Knight said to Self.

“Thanks for thinking of me,” Self said, grinning.

Of Self, Knight said: “I think Billy will be very good there. He’s done a good job wherever he’s been. That’s a really good choice for Kansas to make.”

• OSU hits payday: Former Baylor guard John Lucas transferred to Oklahoma State this offseason and was granted immediate eligibility by the Big 12.

“I’m sorry about what happened at Baylor,” Sutton said, “(but) it was like Christmas coming early when we got John to come to Oklahoma State. He hurt us last year with 20 points in Stillwater and 12 in Waco. He is a tremendous worker.”

Lucas will pay his own way to OSU this year because the Cowboys were out of scholarships. He’ll be put on scholarship next year.

• Early to bed, early to rise: Colorado is holding all its practices at 6 a.m. the first semester.

“We ran at 6 a.m. for seven weeks on the track. There were some gripes,” CU coach Ricardo Patton said. “I told the team the more gripes I heard convinced me we needed it. We’ll do it into January.”