NIL changed recruiting. Traditional in-home visits are over, Kansas coach Bill Self says

LAWRENCE

Armed with highlight films and promotional materials, Bill Self and his Kansas men’s basketball assistants once crisscrossed the country every September and October, selling the KU program to high school prospects and their parents in the comfort of the family’s living room.

Read more Packers’ Micah Parsons: If Super Bowl was this week, ‘I’m playing’

That no longer happens.

“No. No more,” Self, KU’s 24th-year coach said when asked whether traditional in-home recruiting visits still occur in the portal/NIL era. “I haven’t been on an in-home visit in a couple of years. We have all our in-home visits on campus. We still recruit them (high school prospects). The guys (assistants) go see them. They talk to them at their school and everything. But the in-home visits basically occur once they get here (for their official campus visit).”

In today’s college sports climate, coaches increasingly view the old-style in-home as an inefficient use of time. Player and family priorities have shifted now that athletes are compensated.

Self has fond memories of the tradition, saying “I like the in-home visits.”

He has traveled to Kansas City neighborhoods and as far as Anchorage, Alaska (home of Mario Chalmers). Asked whether he preferred the days when, as an Oklahoma State assistant, he drove to Gans, Oklahoma, to sit with 7-footer Bryant “Big Country” Reeves and his parents on rural farmland, Self stated: “It has changed. I like that the guys can get compensated. I like that. I don’t like that it’s a Wild West each and every year and there could be some potential guardrails put on that real soon by the Protect College Sports Act or whatnot.

“You can get lucky (in recruiting), but it’s a lot harder to get lucky today if you don’t spend the money. In the past, since nobody was spending, you could get lucky and get somebody. You can get a kid to come to school here and understand that Aaron Miles (point guard) is a junior and you may not start for two years. If you tell a kid that now, somebody else will pay twice as much and guarantee him a starting spot. So that part’s definitely different.”

Another casualty of the new era is the diminished power of Late Night in the Phog as a recruiting tool. For years, Self and predecessor Roy Williams treated the event as the premier recruiting showcase on the calendar. High school prospects walked through the northwest tunnel of Allen Fieldhouse to roaring ovations from the student section.

This year’s Late Night, the 42nd in school history, will be held in conjunction with Friday’s men’s exhibition against Pittsburg State. Tipoff is 7 p.m., and the game is part of the season-ticket package. Traditional Late Night elements remain — advanced team introductions before tipoff and halftime shots for money. Phog Fest continues on the front lawn of Allen Fieldhouse, starting at 2 p.m. Friday, with inflatable games, music, food trucks, sponsor giveaways and interactive displays in the Hawk Zone.

No names of possible recruits expected to attend have surfaced publicly.

“We’ve brought kids in but not like we used to,” Self said of the season-opening extravaganza. “Some of those (past) Late Night guys … what did we have that one year: Harry Giles, DeAaron Fox, Malik Monk, guys like that — Tyus Jones and (Jahlil) Okafor. This year will be different because it’s a game, but we’re still going to do all the same Late Night things during the game.”

The event remains a major date on the KU calendar for more than basketball recruiting.

“It’s also the biggest freshman student recruitment day of the year, high school/college relations, so (it) will provide an opportunity for some youngsters to come,” Self said. Kansas Athletics Community Cares tickets again will be available to local community groups.

In the most recent recruiting cycle, Kansas signed high-school players Tyran Stokes, Taylen Kinney, Davion Adkins, Trent Perry, Luke Barnett, Grant Mordini and Atticus Richmond, along with portal additions Christian Reeves, Keanu Dawes, Leroy Blyden and Dennis Parker Jr.

Read more Vanderbilt puts distractions aside to focus on Arkansas

Coaches now constantly weigh whether to spend on high-school prospects during the early signing period or wait for the next portal window and proven college transfers.

“I think the thinking was initially if you get a guy early, you might get him at a very reasonable number. If you’re Stokes or (Darryn) Peterson, you’re going to get paid regardless. A lot of people are going to take the approach: ‘They’re not a pro after their freshman year. Let’s wait and try to get a transfer kid that’s already scored 14 a game in college, as opposed to somebody that’s waiting (for college to start),’” Self said.

“Or you’ve got a youngster that you think is really going to be a good player, but he may be a two- or three-year guy. Well, in today’s world, it’s win today more so than build for tomorrow. So if that’s the case, then are you better off having a portal kid?” Self asked. “So who does it impact? It impacts high school recruiting, and that’s one thing about that Protect College Sports Act that actually would help with high school recruiting.”

The Protect College Sports Act, which has passed the Senate but awaits House action, would establish structured, limited recruiting windows and anti-tampering/anti-inducement rules the NCAA could enforce with antitrust protection. Improper inducements and off-window contact would be restricted, creating — in theory — a less pressurized environment for high-school athletes and their families, with defined periods for legitimate recruitment.

Does Self support it?

“Overall? Yes. But do I think it’s perfect? No,” Self said. “And I’m not sure there is a perfect (solution), but it could slow some things down without question to buy some time until you can really try to figure it out. It just doesn’t feel like it’s complete, though. But it’s a heck of a lot better than what it has been.”

A one-time transfer rule under the act would make retention more important, Self said, because the available pool of transfers would shrink.

“How many multiyear contracts do you give out?” he asked. “If a freshman transfers after his freshman year, he’s done (transferring). So does the next school give him a four-year deal because he’s got four years left, or would that kid even be interested in going to another school, knowing if he went there for a one-year deal, after that year, what guarantee is there that school pays him the same amount of money or whatever?”

Some current players already have multi-year deals. “There are some, but not many. There will be, absolutely,” Self said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 12:11 PM with the headline “NIL changed recruiting. Traditional in-home visits are over, Kansas coach Bill Self says.”

Read more Patrick Mahomes’ mom debunks story that Chiefs star has a home at Lake of Ozarks