Things reached a boiling point for Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks when the veteran head coach had to come out and say, “We need to get away from each other. I’ll tell you that point blank,” after their shocking loss to BYU. That defeat also saw their 1477 days as a top 25 team come to an end. Naturally, there were consequences to it. Fans have made their voice known and have openly criticized the Kansas players along with the head coach. Unfortunately, as sports fans, we do get emotionally carried away and end up taking it a step further —so much so that even professionals have to step in to offer advice to the affected athletes.

Regrettably, that’s exactly what happened here. Senior guard Zeke Mayo became the latest target of disg-sting, ra-ially ab-sive messages from a section of Kansas fans after their loss to No. 10 Texas Tech. Mayo had been struggling with his shooting lately, hitting less than 25% from the field in his last two games. As a result, he scored just nine points combined. This prompted Zeke to come out on X and release a statement along with the messages he received on his DM. “I 100% deserve all the criticism in the world,” “My performance was beyond pitiful today, and has been for a while now. I work my a** off every day to be great, but I can’t be perfect all the time. I’m sorry to our fans and my teammates, I will continue to get better.”

Duly, it created a huge outpour of mixed reaction from fans. The backlash got so intense that Zeke ended up deactivating his account altogether and Bill Self himself had to release a late night statement addressing the issue. Broadcaster Seth Davis had his say about the issue and he took to X to give his opinion on the matter. He said, “Yes of course I saw this. And yes these people are the lowest forms of humanity. I have often said it is unwise for anyone, much less high-profile student-athletes, to leave open their DMs or otherwise expose themselves to this excrement. They need to protect their mental health above all. It’s not worth it!”

Fans would always want to interact with their favorite players, but is it wise for the athletes to keep their DMs open? History has shown how these athletes, after every bad performance, are bombarded with negative messages. Remember when Gabbie Marshall had to deactivate her social media because of an offensive foul she made against UConn. Angel Reese couldn’t post her new year’s outfit on social media with fans crowding her comment section with negativity, forcing her to deactivate temporarily. There are more such examples of fan behavior going extreme, and this just affects the players mentally. So Seth Davis’ suggestion might sound rude to a fan but it is definitely the most practical way to deal with the minority section of fans who always take it a step further.

For Zeke, this is the moment to block out the noise and remind everyone just how good he really is. He knows his family, teammates, and coaches have his back, and now it’s about channeling that support and getting back to work. With the Big Dance around the corner, it’s time for Bill Self and his Jayhawks to dig in and make sure they leave no stone unturned.

Bill Self shows support to Zeke as they prepare for the final showdown

Following the extreme backlash which Zeke received on social media, Bill Self wasn’t going to sit back and let it slide. In a late-night statement, the Kansas coach stepped up and took full responsibility. He made it clear where the blame should go by saying, “Any criticism about the team should be directed at me. I’m the head coach.”

The Jayhawks still have to play number 4 Houston and number 22 Arizona before the regular season ends and Bill Self is excited to see how his team bounces back. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we bounce back against a terrific Houston team on Monday. Then, after that game, I’ll look forward to see how we respond to a terrific Arizona team on Saturday. This is the most important time of the season, and this is the time where we need to be better.”

While Bill acknowledges that it will be the most important time of the season, he also knows that the Jayhawks haven’t particularly been good against the ranked teams this season. So far, they have won just 5 of the 13 games against the Quad 1 teams this season. ESPN predicts an 85% chance for the Cougars to come away with a win. But wouldn’t this only brew more problems for the already struggling Jayhawks?

Criticism is part of sports, but there’s a clear line between holding players accountable and crossing into outright ab-se. Fans need to stop taking it too far. For college athletes like Zeke Mayo, it’s high time they follow the suggestions made by Seth Davis and keep their DMs closed, as it might just be the only way to box out negativity in today’s world.