KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP and POST) — Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder has been diagnosed with throat cancer, though treatments are going well and he says in a statement that he expects to be on the field for spring practice in March.

The 77-year-old Snyder addressed his health in a statement Monday, after rumors began circling that he was seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness.  Snyder was born in St. Joseph in 1939 and was a graduate of Lafayette High School.

Snyder said he has been receiving outpatient treatment at University of Kansas Medical Center with consultation from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for about three weeks. Snyder added that both sets of doctors have “projected a positive outcome.”

“I have been diagnosed with throat cancer and have been receiving outpatient treatment at the KU Medical Center for about three weeks and am getting along very well. The doctors and staffs at both KU Med and M.D. Anderson (in Houston, Texas) have been great; working so very well together to finalize the overall treatment plan which is being conducted in Kansas City. Both ‘teams’ have projected a positive outcome and have worked out a schedule that allows me to be in Kansas City for my regular treatments and still be back in the office on a regular basis through the first week of March.

Kansas State begins spring practice March 29. The spring game is April 22.

— Associated Press —