Kansas University’s Bill Self has known new University of Nebraska’s men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler a long time.

“Going on 20 years,” Self said of the second-year Texas-El Paso coach, who today will be introduced as Barry Collier’s successor at NU.

“He’s good people. He comes from the same coaching family,” Self added of Sadler, who, like KU’s fourth-year coach, is a former assistant under the legendary Eddie Sutton.

Sadler – he assisted Self’s buddy, Billy Gillispie, at UTEP one season before taking over as head coach when Gillispie bolted for Texas A&M – served as a student manager for Sutton at the University of Arkansas, where Sadler graduated in 1982.

Sadler went on to become a full-time Arkansas aide from 1982 to ’85. Self assisted Sutton at Oklahoma State from 1990 to ’93.

“Being at Arkansas with coach Sutton starting out and being with Billy at UTEP, you will see a lot of similarities to A&M and coach Sutton’s style,” Self said of hard-nosed, man-to-man defensive play.

“Doc is really a good recruiter and a good coach. Nebraska has done well, especially at this late hour.”

Self first met Sadler when Sadler worked at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Sadler also has been an assistant at Lamar, Houston, Chicago State, Texas Tech and Arizona State.

“He’ll be a good fit. People will enjoy him and relate to him,” Self said. “He’s a people person. He’ll do a great job.”

Self said Nebraska “is a good job. I think it’s a lot like Kansas in one respect – both states will produce some good prospects, but both are not highly populated areas.”

¢
Trees: Sadler once was asked by a media member if he and Gillispie are from the Henry Iba coaching tree. Sutton played for Iba at Oklahoma State.

“I think both of us are from that tree because Bill Self (Gillispie’s mentor) is from that tree, also,” Sadler said.

¢
Floor work: Now that basketball and volleyball camp seasons are over, it’s time for workers to touch-up the Allen Fieldhouse floor.

Refinishing of the surface, which started on July 31, takes about 12 days to complete and seven to 10 days to dry. Parts of the floor, like the center Jayhawk, are being re-painted, with the surface expected to be ready for use by men’s and women’s basketball players between Aug. 18-25.

The fieldhouse is basically in use all year. Workers take advantage of a small window of opportunity before classes start Aug. 17.

“We think it’ll refresh the Jayhawk, keep it looking good, and we want to keep the floor in the best condition year to year,” KU assistant athletic director Jim Marchiony explained.

¢
Due date: KU’s men’s basketball players are expected to all be back in town by Aug. 16. Junior center Sasha Kaun, who headed back to his hometown of Tomsk, Russia, in late June to visit relatives and update his passport, should be back in town by the end of this week.

¢
Nash hopes to play in ABA: Former KU forward Bryant Nash was one of 31 players who showed last weekend for a tryout conducted by the ABA’s Knoxville Noise.

The 6-foot-7 Nash played five games with the ABA’s New Mexico Style last season, but quit the team when he failed to be paid. The franchise folded.

“You want something bad enough, you chase it. I’m chasing it right now,” Nash told the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun. “I do have a pretty good background, and I’m sure at some point that’s going to help me. I just need to find the right situation.

“If it doesn’t work here, it will somewhere else. That’s the way it is for guys like us,” added Nash, who currently does not have an agent. “You keep moving on until you get a door to open. And when it happens, it won’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last.”