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Bill Self 'happy with whatever' after current contract ends at age 59

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas coach Bill Self said he's not sure he'll coach past age 60.

Self, 54, said he does not want to match his peers who continue to coach in their late 60s and early 70s. Although he admires Jim Boeheim (72), Roy Williams (67) and Mike Krzyzewski (70), he said he's not interested in duplicating their longevity.

Self's current contract pays him $4.9 million per year and runs through the 2021-22 season.

"I've said all along that if I could go to my late 50s, that'd be good for me," Self told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "Now that I'm getting close to my late 50s, I'm like, 'Well ... ,' but my contract runs until I'm 59, so I've got five more years left. I definitely want to do that. Then whatever happens after that I'd be happy with whatever. But I don't want to [coach too late]."

Last season, Self's Jayhawks matched UCLA's Division I record of 13 consecutive conference titles.

He said the grind attached to coaching in 2017 comes with a cost.

"With recruiting the way that it is, it just wears you down," said Self, who recently was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

His team's season will begin with next week's "Late Night at the Phog," KU's version of midnight madness. A trio of talented guards -- Mississippi State transfer Malik Newman, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Devonte' Graham -- will lead a squad that's expected to start the season ranked in the top 10 by most reputable polls.

But the Jayhawks are coming off a turbulent season that ended with an Elite Eight loss to Oregon in Kansas City, Missouri. The team also faced various off-court troubles in what Self called a sometimes "frustrating" season.

Self said his squad's offseason exhibition trip to Italy helped prepare the Jayhawks for the upcoming year, which could end with a historic achievement should they extend their Big 12 title streak.

"We got through some stuff that we probably needed to get through [in Italy] as a group," he said. "We're not close to being a team yet. There's a certain point and time in a season where a team becomes a team. We're not close to that. But we're definitely further along."