basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Allen Fieldhouse. In his tenure at Kansas, Self has had 3 home winning streaks of more than 30 wins including a school-record and 11th-best all-time 69 game streak. During his tenure at Kansas, he has recruited several McDonald's All-Americans to Kansas, including

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard "Mario" Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

,

Darrell Arthur Darrell Antwonne Arthur (born March 25, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks for two seasons where he was part of the 2007–08 national championship team. He was draf ...

, Xavier Henry,

Andrew Wiggins Andrew Christian Wiggins (born February 23, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the List of first overall NBA draft picks, first ov ...

,

Cliff Alexander Cliff Alexander (born November 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Sagesse Club of the Lebanese Basketball League, he last played for Suwon KT Sonicboom of the Korean Basketball League. He completed his freshman season ...

,

Wayne Selden Jr. Wayne Anthony Selden Jr. (born September 30, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Manisa BB of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. High school career Selden first attended ...

, Cheick Diallo, and Josh Jackson. Under Self, Kansas rarely loses consecutive games, only thirteen times since taking over. As of April 2022, Self is 108–15 following a loss at Kansas and has only had three three-game losing streaks. He has never lost more than three games in a row. Self’s teams at Kansas are also consistently ranked. As of April 2022, Kansas has only played 41 of his 680 games as head coach unranked. Self has implemented a strong high-low

motion offense A motion offense is a category of offensive scheme used in basketball. Motion offenses use player movement, often as a strategy to exploit the quickness of the offensive team or to neutralize a size advantage of the defense. Motion offenses are dif ...

using size as an advantage in the paint, and a pressing man-to-man defense on all of his teams from his early coaching days at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

through the present. He has also shown great adaptability on the court and has implemented sometimes drastic adjustments as needed to his defensive schemes with various degrees of success. Despite Self's consistency, many reporters questioned his abilities in the NCAA tournament because of his 4–7 record in the Elite 8, but since starting his career 0–4 in the regional final round, he is 4–3 in his last seven Elite 8 appearances. Self has taken Kansas to nine Elite 8 appearances in his 19 seasons at KU, which is the most visits to that round of the tournament in that time frame. Self was the highest paid NCAA basketball coach for the 2021–22 season. He made $10,184,282 that season. He signed a lifetime contract extension with the Jayhawks in 2021. In 2022, Self became the seventh coach to win multiple NCAA tournament championships since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Early life

Self was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where his father was the girls' basketball coach at nearby Morris High School. Self attended

Edmond Memorial High School Edmond Memorial High School is a public secondary school located in Edmond, Oklahoma, one of three high schools in the Edmond school district. It serves approximately 2,300 students. History The school was originally named Edmond High School b ...

, where he was named Oklahoma High School Basketball Player of the Year in 1981.

Playing career

Self received a basketball scholarship to play at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. He was a letter winner all four years he played. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1985 and a master's degree in athletic administration in 1989, both from Oklahoma State.

Statistics

Collegiate coaching history

Early coaching jobs

In 1985, Self joined Larry Brown's coaching staff at the University of Kansas. He remained at Kansas as an assistant coach for the 1985–1986 season. Between 1986 and 1993, Self was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University under

Leonard Hamilton James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at Florida State University. He is a former head coach at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami, and for the Nat ...

, followed by

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, junio ...

.

Oral Roberts

Self's first head coaching position came at

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christian televangelist, ordained in both the Pentecostal Holiness and United Methodist churches. He is considered one of the forerunners of t ...

who hired him in 1993. In his first season at ORU, the team managed only six wins/victories. Things improved slightly the following year, when ORU won ten games. In Self's third season, he guided the Golden Eagles to an 18–9 record, and in his fourth season, (1996–1997), ORU registered a 21–7 record as the school made its first postseason tournament appearance since its 1983–1984 appearance in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York Cit ...

.

Tulsa

After rebuilding the Golden Eagles, Self was hired by crosstown rival

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

and spent three seasons (1998 to 2000) there, compiling a Tulsa-best 74–27 record. While at TU, Self coached the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. In the 1999–2000 season, in addition to setting a school single-season record for victories by compiling a 32–5 record, Self led the Golden Hurricane to its first-ever Elite Eight appearance.

Illinois

On June 9, 2000,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

named Self the head coach of their basketball program. Self's predecessor,

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for Kansas State Uni ...

, had recently left the Illinois program to accept a job in the NBA as head coach of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. In 2000–01, his first season at Illinois, Self coached a squad of mostly Kruger recruits to a 27–8 record (13–3 conference record), a share of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

title, and a final Associated Press ranking of 4th in the nation, resulting in the Fighting Illini earning a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Self coached Illinois guards Frank Williams and Cory Bradford, along with guard/forward Sergio McClain, forward Brian Cook, and center Marcus Griffin, to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. The Illini failed to advance beyond the Elite Eight after falling to eventual tournament finalists number 2 seeded

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The 2000–01 Illini roster included future NBA players Frank Williams,

Robert Archibald Robert Michael Archibald (29 March 1980 – 23 January 2020) was a Scottish professional basketball player. A power forward / center from the University of Illinois, he was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2002 NBA draft with the t ...

and Brian Cook. With mostly the same core, Illinois followed up the season with impressive 2001–02 and 2002–03 campaigns, but fell in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

to

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

, and the second round in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

to Notre Dame. Self was responsible for the recruitment of many of the 2005 Fighting Illini team, which won the Big Ten title under Bruce Weber. Weber replaced Self prior to the 2003–04 season and coached 2005 Fighting Illini to an NCAA record-tying 37–2 record before falling to North Carolina in the NCAA championship game. In Self's three seasons in Illinois, he led the Fighting Illini to two Big Ten regular-season championships, a Big Ten tournament title, and three straight NCAA tournament appearances.

Kansas

2003–07

Kansas hired Self in 2003. He took over for Roy Williams who left for his former team,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, after KU lost the 2003 National Championship game to Syracuse. In his first season at Kansas, Self led the Jayhawks to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. The following season, the Jayhawks were ranked preseason #1 and started 20–1, but slumped and lost six of their final nine games. Kansas received a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament and lost to #14 seed Bucknell in the first round. The team finished 23–7 and settled for a Big 12 co-championship with

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. In 2005–06, little was expected of the young Jayhawks, as they were unranked in the preseason polls and picked to finish 6th in the conference. They began the season 10–6, including 1–2 in the Big 12. Although they did post a 73–46 win over

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, they also saw the end of their 31-game winning streak over rival

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

with a 59–55 loss at Allen Fieldhouse, and two nights later blew a seven-point lead in the final 45 seconds of regulation en route to an 89–86 overtime loss at

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. But afterward, the Jayhawks matured rapidly, winning 15 of their final 17 games. They picked up impressive road wins over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

(83–73),

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

(95–85),

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

(69–48), and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...

(64–49). They mounted a monumental comeback victory over

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

(59–58) after falling behind by as many as 16 in the second half, and avenged their loss to Missouri with a 79–46 victory over the Missouri Tigers in Lawrence, Kansas. KU did stumble against

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, taking an 80–55 beating, but by winning their final two Big 12 games over

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and at Kansas State (avenging the earlier loss at home), took advantage of a Texas loss to Texas A&M to force a tie for the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

title at 13–3. KU played as the #2 seed in the

Big 12 tournament The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the foot ...

in Dallas, and avenged the loss to Texas with an 80–68 victory over the Longhorns in the final to clinch the tournament championship. KU was handed a #4 seed for the NCAA tournament but stumbled again in the first round with a loss to the #13 seed

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

. Prior to the 2006–07 season, Self was 72–24 (.750) in three seasons at KU, 279–129 (.683) in 13 seasons overall and 13–8 in NCAA tournament play. On February 10, 2007, Self recorded his 300th career win in a 92–74 victory at Missouri. Self led Kansas to the 2007 Big 12 regular-season championship with a 14–2 record, highlighted by a win over

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball f ...

-led

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in a pair of monumental, come-from-behind victories in the last game of the regular season and in the

Big 12 Championship game The Big 12 Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big 12 Conference between the best and the second-best Big 12 team. The game was played each year since the conference's formation in 1996 until 2010 and returned during the 201 ...

. At the end of the regular season, Kansas stood at 27–4 and ranked #2 in the nation in both the AP and Coaches' polls. In the NCAA tournament, Self's Jayhawks received a #1 seed, and advanced to Self's fourth career Elite Eight, with the team garnering commanding wins over #16 seeded Niagara and #8 seeded

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, as well as a victory over the #4 seeded

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

. Kansas's tournament run ended in the Elite Eight with a loss to 2-seed

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

.

2007–08 National Championship season

Kansas-Basketball-Staff-Nov-15-07-Washburn

In 2007–08, Kansas started the season 20–0 before suffering its first loss at

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

.

Michael Beasley Michael Paul Beasley Jr. (born January 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Kansas State Universi ...

led KSU past the Jayhawks at

Bramlage Coliseum Fred Bramlage Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in Manhattan, Kansas with an official capacity of 11,654. It is the home to the K-State Men's and Women's basketball teams and serves as an alternative venue for K-State Women's Volleyball. The faci ...

. The defeat marked Kansas' first loss in its last 24 trips to

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 c ...

, where KU had remained undefeated since 1983. Kansas eventually won the Big 12 regular-season title and the Big 12 conference tournament, and secured a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. On March 30, 2008, Self led Kansas to a win in the Elite Eight over

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

and the

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

Wildcats. KU won by two, 59–57, after a last-second shot by Davidson's Jason Richards drew only backboard. The Jayhawks went on to play the overall #1-seeded

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the stat ...

in the semifinals, who were coached by Self's predecessor at Kansas, Roy Williams. The Jayhawks jumped on the Tar Heels early, leading 40–12 at one point, before recording an authoritative 84–66 victory and advancing to the National Championship game. On April 7, 2008, Kansas defeated

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College ...

-led

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

in overtime, 75–68, earning KU its first National Title since

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

.

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard "Mario" Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

, who forced Memphis to overtime by hitting a three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left in regulation, was named Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament. In August 2008, Self signed a new 10-year contract guaranteeing him $3 million annually, making him the second-highest-paid coach in college basketball at the time, following Florida's

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

.Currently, he is the third-highest compensated behind Donovan and

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College ...

, who signed an eight-year, $31.65 million deal with Kentucky on April 1, 2009
Self Discusses his —′new Deal
''Lawrence Journal-World''.

2008–2012

The Jayhawks lost their entire starting lineup and two reserves to the NBA draft following the 2008 season, returning only two role players from the NCAA Championship squad. However, Self did have the 9th best recruiting class in the nation, with two future NBA players Markieff Morris and

Marcus Morris Marcus Thomas Morris Sr. (born September 2, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The forward played college basketball at Kansas before being drafted 14t ...

. With guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, Self responded by coaching the team to a 27–8 season record, a Big 12 championship, a Sweet Sixteen showing in the NCAA tournament, and several national coach of the year awards. Going into the 2009–10 season, the Jayhawks were ranked number 1 in the preseason polls. The team went 33–3 and won Self's sixth-straight

Big 12 Championship The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the foot ...

, something no team had accomplished in a BCS conference since

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

's

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

teams of the 1960s and 70s. The team also won the

Big 12 tournament The Big 12 Conference sponsors championships in 23 sports, 10 men's and 13 women's. The first conference championship awarded was the 1996 softball postseason tournament championship, which was won by Oklahoma. From 2011 through 2016, the foot ...

, Self's third. Self reached his 400th career victory with a win over

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

on February 13. The Jayhawks had their 2,000th win in school history under Self when they defeated

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, joining Kentucky and North Carolina as the only schools to record such an achievement. However, the Jayhawks were seeded 1st in the NCAA tournament and were upset by 9th-seeded

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in the second round. Recruiting began immediately for the 2010–11 season, as Kansas landed top recruit

Josh Selby Joshua Cornell Selby (born March 27, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He played one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks before being selecte ...

in April. By September 2010, both ''The Sporting News'' and Athlon Sports had ranked Kansas in their pre-season outlook as #4 overall and, along with ESPN's Joe Lunardi, were projected to become a #1 seed again in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Blue Ribbon and the USA Today/ESPN coaches polls both placed Kansas at #7 in the pre-season poll. Josh Selby became eligible mid season and joined the Jayhawks beginning December 18 against

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. The Jayhawks went 29–2 during the regular season, winning the Big-12 Conference title and the Big 12 Conference tournament in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

. Self was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the third time on March 6, both in the coaches' poll and by the Associated Press. The Jayhawks entered the NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the Southwest Region, defeating #16 seed

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and #9 seed

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

to advance to the Sweet 16 where they beat #12 seed

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

. Kansas lost to #11 seed VCU, a team many didn't think deserved to be in the tournament, by 10 points in the Elite Eight after never leading during the game. Between 2007 and 2011, Self's KU teams won 165 games, an average of 33.0 wins a year, passing

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five nati ...

of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

(164 wins, 32.8 a year from 1998 to 2002) and

Jerry Tarkanian Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...

of

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

(163 wins, 32.6 a year from 1987–1991) for the highest 5-year win total of any men's basketball coach in Division I history. In the 2010–11 season, Self led the Jayhawks past North Carolina to end the season at number 2 on the all-time wins list, trailing leader Kentucky by 14 games (

List of teams with the most victories in NCAA Division I men's college basketball This is a list of top NCAA Division I Men's basketball teams ranked by the number of wins through the end of the last completed season, 2021–22. {, class="wikitable sortable" !Rank !College !First Season !Seasons !Wins !Losses !Ties !Win% , ...

). In 2011–12, having lost four starters from the 2010–11 team, Kansas faced an apparent rebuilding year. Two of Self's recruits were ruled ineligible by the NCAA, and those who moved into the starting positions had seen little action in prior years. Kansas began the season with a 7–3 record, and though there were wins over Georgetown and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in Maui and an upset of

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas lost to Kentucky by ten points, to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

by seven points in the Maui finals, and to

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

by six points in an upset in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

. Self later stated that, after the loss to Davidson, he worried of his team's chances of making the NCAA Tournament that year. Kansas won its last three non-conference games, and went 16–2 through the Big 12 to capture an eighth straight Big 12 regular-season championship. On February 25, 2012, Kansas erased a 19-point deficit at home against its arch-rival, No. 3 ranked

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, winning 87–86 in overtime to clinch the Big 12 title. Kansas faltered in the 2012 Big 12 tournament, losing to Baylor in the semifinals. The Jayhawks entered the 2012 NCAA tournament as a #2-seed in the Midwest Regional. After a win over Detroit Mercy, the Jayhawks rallied for a comeback victory over

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mo ...

in the second round, a game in which Kansas led for only 45 seconds. In the regional rounds, Kansas secured a narrow victory over

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

before facing top-seeded but injury-riddled

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

in the regional final. In only their second meeting against former KU coach Roy Williams, the Jayhawks sprinted with UNC to a 47–47 halftime tie, before ultimately claiming an 80–67 victory and a trip to

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for the Final Four. With a 64–62 victory over Ohio State, Kansas advanced to the championship game to face Kentucky, a rematch of their earlier encounter in November. The Jayhawks fell behind by as many as eighteen points against the Wildcats in the first half. Kansas trimmed the deficit to five late in the second half, but ultimately lost, 67–59. The Jayhawks concluded the year with a 32–7 record, and Self was named the Naismith Coach of the Year.

2012–15

With four seniors in the starting lineup and redshirt freshman Ben McLemore eligible to play, expectations were high for Kansas. The Jayhawks got off to a fast start, winning 19 of their first 20 games, including the CBE Classic in Kansas City. But then they hit a 3-game skid, losing at home to Oklahoma State, at TCU and at Oklahoma. Following the Jayhawks' loss to a TCU team that had been winless in Big 12 play to that point and would finish last in the league, Self made national headlines when he called his team worse than

James Naismith James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...

's teams that lost to the Topeka YMCA. KU recovered from its 3-game skid and went on to share the Big 12 championship with Kansas State, and then won the Big 12 Tournament by beating KSU 70–54 in the title game. The team earned a 1-seed for the NCAA Tournament's South Region and picked up wins against Western Kentucky and North Carolina to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year. However, the team's tournament run was cut short when Kansas blew a 14-point lead in the final minutes and lost to eventual national runner-up Michigan in overtime, finishing the year 31–6. With star freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid on the roster, Kansas entered the season as the #5 team in the country. They started off well with five straight wins, including a victory over Duke in the Champions' Classic. However, the team went 4–4 over its next eight games, including back-to-back losses to Colorado and Florida and an ugly home loss to San Diego State. The team recovered from this rough stretch and began Big 12 play with seven straight wins, ultimately finishing 14–4 to win its 10th consecutive Big 12 title. A back injury to Joel Embiid, however, left the Jayhawks vulnerable on their interior defense, and they fizzled out at season's end with four losses in their final seven games, including a loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals in Kansas City and an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 loss to Stanford to end the year. Kansas concluded the year 25–10, the first ten-loss season for Kansas since Roy Williams' 1999–2000 Jayhawks went 24–10. As usual, Kansas signed another highly regarded recruiting class, adding Kelly Oubre, Jr. and Cliff Alexander to its roster, and the Jayhawks began the campaign as the #5 team in the country for the second straight year. KU stumbled out of the gate with a humbling 32-point defeat at the hands of #1 Kentucky in its second game, and then also suffered an embarrassing 25-point loss on the road at Temple in late December. Once Big 12 play rolled around, however, the Jayhawks regained momentum, winning eight of their first nine league contests, ultimately capturing their 11th consecutive Big 12 title. However, success in the NCAA Tournament would not come as Self's Jayhawks were beaten 78–65 by Wichita State in the round of 32.

2015–19

Self won his 200th game at Allen Fieldhouse this season. At that point, he had only lost 9 games there all-time. Under Self, the Jayhawks finished the regular season in the #1 spot of the AP poll and Coaches poll, securing the #1 seed in the South Region. KU easily disposed of Austin Peay in its opening round game, 105–79, and then defeated UConn in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16 to face Maryland. After a slow start by the Jayhawks, Kansas rallied to win over the Terrapins, 79–63. The Jayhawks then lost a closely fought matchup against the eventual national champions Villanova in the Elite Eight, 64–59. On November 18, 2016, after an 86–65 win over

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, Self passed Ted Owens for most wins at Allen Fieldhouse with 207. On December 6, 2016, Self achieved his 600th win with a 105–62 win over UMKC. He is the 9th fastest coach in NCAA history to win 600 games. On February 18, 2017, Self was announced as one of 14 finalists named from over 100 candidates to be inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in his first year of eligibility. The inductees were announced April 3 prior to the National Championship game. The team went on to win the Big 12 regular season title for a record 13th straight season. The team was led by guard Frank Mason III who went on to be the consensus National Player of the year Kansas began their season with complications as star freshman Billy Preston was sidelined due to an NCAA investigation. Even without Preston, Kansas began their season by winning their first seven games including a quality win against #7 ranked Kentucky. The third win of that streak, over Texas Southern, was Self's 419th win at Kansas, vaulting him past Williams to become the second-winningest coach in school history. The Jayhawks then went on to lose their next two games including a home loss to 16th ranked Arizona State. This would be the first of three home losses for the season with the addition of losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. These three home losses were the most Self has suffered in a single season at Kansas. The team went on to finish the regular season 27–7 before securing the #1 seed in the Midwest Region. Kansas won their first game against Pennsylvania by wide margin, then fought through and won their next two games against Seton Hall and Clemson to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight the Jayhawks faced a tough Duke team and ultimately won in overtime 85–81 to advance to the Final Four where they would fall to #1 seed of the East region Villanova who would go on to become the national champions.

2019–2021

The Jayhawks finished the 2019–20 regular season 28–3 and were unanimously ranked number one in the final regular season AP poll. The Jayhawks went undefeated against unranked teams and their 3 losses came to ranked teams. The Jayhawks were a favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, however, the NCAA Tournament was cancelled on March 12, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The 2020–21 team started 8–1 but struggled in the middle of conference play, finishing with a 21–9 record and a second-round NCAA tournament loss to USC. In September 2019, Self and the Kansas program were served a Notice of Allegations by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

for five Level 1 violations, a head coach responsibility charge against Self personally, and a lack of institutional control charge against the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. Self's individual punishments could include a suspension or an effective ban from college basketball for several years or more (a "show cause" penalty against any program looking to hire Self).Kansas coach Bill Self defiant in wake of NCAA investigation
.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, October 23, 2019. Accessed August 7, 2020. Self has denied throughout the investigation that the Kansas coaching staff knew

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacture ...

was paying recruits to go there. On April 2, 2021, Self signed a lifetime contract with Kansas. Every year after the initial five years, an extra year will be automatically added to the contract and that will continue until he retires or dies. The financial terms of the contract were not immediately disclosed.

2021–22 National Championship season

During the 2021–22 season, Self's Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular season conference title for the 16th time in his 19 seasons as Kansas coach. Self also led his team to a Big 12 tournament title, his 9th in 18 possible conference tournaments. The Jayhawks were awarded the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament. Self led Kansas to its fourth NCAA National Championship in program history, capped by a 72–69 victory over North Carolina in the National Championship game on April 4, 2022. The Jayhawks overcame a 16-point deficit and a 15-point halftime deficit to win, both NCAA title game records. By winning the title, combined with Mike Krzyzewski's retirement at the end of the season, Self moved into a tie with Rick Pitino as the only active coaches with two national championships.

Assists Foundation

In June 2006, Self and his wife, Cindy, established the Assists Foundation, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...

organization to serve as a fundraising conduit for organizations that serve a variety of youth initiatives. The mission of Assists is to help provide young people access to better lives. Assists held its first public fundraiser June 7, 2008—Bill's Basketball Boogie (www.basketballboogie.org) at Kansas Speedway. Over fifty local businesses and Kansas supporters signed on to sponsor the event, which offered opportunities to socialize with past and present Kansas basketball elite and to purchase valuable basketball memorabilia and travel and entertainment venues through the auction. Entertainment was provided by

Sawyer Brown Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), an ...

and Disco Dick.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Self is married with two children, a daughter and a son. His daughter graduated from Kansas in 2013. His son, Tyler, played basketball at Kansas from 2012 to 2017 and is the general manager for the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the postseason in 8 ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA D ...

.

References

External links

Kansas Jayhawks bio
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Bill 1962 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Edmond Memorial High School alumni Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players Oral Roberts Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches People from Okmulgee, Oklahoma Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball coaches

Early life

Playing career

Statistics

Collegiate coaching history

Early coaching jobs

Oral Roberts

Tulsa

Illinois

Kansas

2003–07

2007–08 National Championship season

2008–2012

2012–15

2015–19

2019–2021

2021–22 National Championship season

Assists Foundation

Head coaching record

Personal life

See also

References

External links