Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts takes the court for the first of four games to serve as head coach as Kansas head coach Bill Self serves a four-game suspension, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas basketball officials said before Monday’s tipoff against Omaha that the outcome of the four games the Jayhawks play without head coach Bill Self this month will go down as program wins or losses.

None of the outcomes will go on the official records of Self or acting head coach Norm Roberts.

Self, along with suspended assistant Kurtis Townsend, missed Monday’s game — and will miss the next three games, as well — to serve a school-imposed suspension. Neither is allowed to be with the team in any capacity for a 24-hour period on game days.

Both are, however, allowed to carry on with their normal duties during practices leading up to game days. That on-and-off involvement brought up the question about whose record the games would impact. And KU officials said Sunday that the NCAA leaves that decision up to the institution in instances of self-imposed punishments.

Roberts, himself, was asked if he knew the answer about who gets the wins or losses, and he deferred to Self’s seniority.

“Bill’s going to definitely say it goes on mine,” Roberts joked. “When you’re filling the shoes of a Hall of Fame coach, that’s not easy by any means. But we’re going to do it together as a staff. It’s not just one guy out there. And our guys know it’s about players. It’s about making plays and playing the right way.”

Roberts, who has 10 years of head-coaching experience and entered Monday night with 105 career victories as a head coach at Queens College and St. John’s, said he had heard a lot from friends in the business during the past couple of days.

“I’ve gotten quite a few texts, joking around with me, messing with me, as well as wishing us good luck and hoping we do well,” he said.

Roberts isn’t one bit worried about how well he’ll fill Self’s shoes during the suspension, because he knows it won’t be all up to him.

“I think we’re all together,” he said. “I think our guys understand what’s going on. … They know it’s about us all bonding and it’s our culture that we bond together and we look out for each other. Our guys know that they’ve got to come out and play at a certain level. Our whole coaching staff is excited about starting the season off. We’re ready to go.”

Dooley a big help

Roberts was not the only one on KU’s bench Monday night with previous head coaching experience.

Joe Dooley, a longtime Self assistant, who rejoined the program as the director of basketball operations this offseason, also has 13 years of experience as a head coach, most recently from 2018-22 at East Carolina. Before that, Dooley was the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast for five seasons.

“I think that helps a ton,” Roberts said. “When you’re a head coach and running your own program, you have a different way of looking at the game, a different way of looking at players, a different type of calmness, to be honest with you.”

Roberts said, in his experiences, the head coach often does not get as riled up as others because he’s thinking more big picture about how long the game is and what needs to be accomplished. He added that having a guy like Dooley there next to him brings an additional veteran presence with Self and Townsend out.

Rice still ailing

Roberts said freshman wing MJ Rice, who sat out KU’s exhibition win over Pitt State because of a back injury, was “getting better” but Rice did not play versus Omaha.

Rice practiced Sunday for the first time in a little over a week.

The key with Rice at this point, Roberts said, is to do everything he can to be ready to play full speed when he returns.

“We’re fine on the perimeter as far as our numbers of guys,” Roberts said of not having Rice early on. “We just have to get him (in better) conditioning and his strength back.”

Sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford has known Rice for years and the two are close friends. Pettiford said Sunday that he has done everything he can to help Rice push through the current setback.

“I think he’s doing pretty well. He’s kind of a little frustrated, but I’ve been in that situation and I’ve been talking to him,” Pettiford said of Rice. “(I tell him) just stay locked in at practice and try to stay beside one of the coaches. Being a learner right now is the best thing for him.”

Sweet souvenir

Fans in attendance at Monday’s season opener had the opportunity to leave with a piece of the floor that the Jayhawks won the national championship on last April in New Orleans.

The pieces — which measure roughly two inches wide by six inches long — were presented to each fan with a ticket in attendance at Monday’s opener.

As is the case with the floor from KU’s 2008 championship in San Antonio, the mid-court portion of the floor, which features the 2022 Final Four logo, is hanging in KU’s practice gym.

Hello, old friend

Omaha coach Chris Crutchfield, who took over at his alma mater this offseason after a long stretch of assistant coaching gigs, has a connection to another one of KU’s head coaches.

Crutchfield was a graduate assistant at Omaha back in the mid-1990s when current Kansas football coach Lance Leipold was coaching at Nebraska-Omaha.

This and that…

Monday’s victory marked KU’s 50th consecutive win in a home opener, dating back to the 1973-74 season under then-head coach Ted Owens. Kansas coaches Larry Brown (5-0), Roy Williams (15-0) and Bill Self (now 20-0) never lost a home opener… Kansas now has won its season opener under Self 17 times in his 20 seasons at Kansas… KU now leads the all-time series with Omaha 3-0, with the most recent win prior to Monday night coming at Allen Fieldhouse in December of 2020… Next up, KU will host North Dakota State at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.