Bill Self

Bill Eugene Self Jr. was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where his father was the girls' basketball coach at nearby Morris High School.^[4] Self attended Edmond Memorial High School, where he was named Oklahoma High School Basketball Player of the Year in 1981.^[5]

Self received a basketball scholarship to play at Oklahoma State University. 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.^[6]

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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, followed by Eddie Sutton. Self's first head coaching position came at Oral Roberts who hired him in 1993. In his first season at ORU, the team managed only six wins. 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.^[8]

After rebuilding the Golden Eagles, Self was hired by crosstown rival Tulsa 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 and 2000. 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.^[9]

On June 9, 2000, Illinois named Self the head coach of their basketball program. 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 hired Self as head coach in 2003. He took over for Roy Williams who left for his former team, North Carolina, 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. 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.^[10]

Between 2007 and 2011, Self's KU teams won 165 games, an average of 33.0 wins a year, passing Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (164 wins, 32.8 a year from 1998 to 2002) and Jerry Tarkanian of UNLV (163 wins, 32.6 a year from 1987 to 1991) for the highest 5-year win total of any men's basketball coach in Division I history.^[11]

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). The Jayhawks entered the 2012 NCAA tournament as a #2-seed in the Midwest Regional and ultimately lost in the championship game to Kentucky 67–59. The Jayhawks concluded the year with a 32–7 record, and Self was named the Naismith Coach of the Year. On November 18, 2016, after an 86–65 win over Siena, Self passed Ted Owens for most wins at Allen Fieldhouse with 207.^[12] 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.^[13] 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 in his first year of eligibility. The inductees were announced April 3 prior to the National Championship game.^[14]

 

In September 2019, Self and the Kansas program were served a Notice of Allegations by the NCAA 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. Self's individual punishments could include a suspension^[15] or an effective ban from college basketball for several years or more (a "show cause" penalty against any program looking to hire Self).^[16] Self has denied throughout the investigation that the Kansas coaching staff knew Adidas was paying recruits to go there.^[17]

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.^[18] During the 2021–22 season, 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 the retirements of Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright at the end of the season, Self moved into a tie with Rick Pitino as the only active coaches with two national championships.

On November 2, the University of Kansas suspended Self for the first four games of the 2022–23 season after a recruiting violation, which included the team's Champions Classic game against Duke.^[19] Just before the start of the Big 12 Tournament, Self endured a health issue and was unable to coach the Jayhawks for the postseason. Kansas assistant Norm Roberts took over.^[20] The Jayhawks would go on to the title game of the Big 12 tournament, losing to Texas. They received the one seed in the west region, beating Howard before losing to Arkansas.

In 2023, due to recruiting violations, 15 of the Jayhawks wins from the 2017–18 season, their Final Four appearance, Big 12 regular season title, and Big 12 Tournament title were all vacated by the NCAA.^[21] On November 7, 2023, Self signed an amended lifetime contract with Kansas. The contract was signed to continue being a lifetime contract, however, the amended contract gave him a raise to make him the highest paid coach in the country.^[22]

*Does not include 15 vacated wins, 10 of which were conference wins. The Jayhawks regular season Big 12 championship and their Big 12 Tournament championship were vacated. The Jayhawks entire NCAA Tournament appearance from the season was vacated including their Final Four appearance.
**Does not include record during Self's suspension, but does include games missed due to health issues.

 

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^[6] and was the general manager for the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League until 2022.^[23] Self is a Christian.^[24]

In June 2006, Self and his wife, Cindy, established the ASSISTS foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization to serve as a fundraising conduit for organizations that serve a variety of youth initiatives.^[25]

• List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins
• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bill Self.

• Kansas Jayhawks bio
• Bill Self at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Bill Self – college basketball coach profile at Sports Reference
• Bill Self – college basketball player profile at Sports Reference