Bill Self told Devonte' that he should never not start another game at Kansas, He expressed what that meant to his confidence and how it helped him grow his game. linktr.ee/runyourracepod
The story that Devonte tells about Self saying that one sentence to him and then walking away reminds me of a story that I Bill Self said about his dad. I can't remember if it was in an interview or if I read it, but after Bill was offered the job at KU, he was having doubts about whether or not he should take the job. He had a good thing going at Illinois, but the doubts were about whether he could step into that job at Kansas and take over for a legend like Roy Williams. Self was thinking about not taking the job and then he spoke to his dad, and he talked about his doubts in following Roy Williams. His father said to him "If you don't think you can do it, then don't do it." Bill said that his father meant it as a challenge and encouragement. Kind of like "I believe that you can do the job, but you have to believe that you can do it too. If you don't think you're capable of rising to the occasion than you shouldn't be coaching at a place like Kansas and maybe, you shouldn't be coaching at all." Bill took the job shortly thereafter. So, this story with Devonte is something he got from his father. He offers encouragement and it's also a challenge. "You should never not start another game while you're here at Kansas." In other words, "You're good enough to start, but you've got to earn it." Encouragement and a challenge. Some people get it, and some don't. I'm glad Devonte understood.
We KU fans were blessed to have Frank Mason AND Devonte Graham on the court together for a couple of seasons. What a tandem!! Legendary! Thank you both for your hard work!!
He may not have played as much as he would've liked as a freshman, but he showed flashes of who he would become. By the end of his freshman year he was already my favorite player on the team
