Bill Self

Coach

Birthday December 27, 1962

Birth Sign Capricorn

Birthplace Okmulgee, Oklahoma, U.S.

Age 61 years old

Nationality United States

#43433 Most Popular

1930

In his tenure at Kansas, Self has had three 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, Darrell Arthur, Xavier Henry, Andrew Wiggins, Cliff Alexander, Wayne Selden Jr.., Cheick Diallo, and Josh Jackson.

Under Self, Kansas rarely loses consecutive games, only fourteen times since taking over.

As of February 18, 2023, Self is 110–17 following a loss at Kansas and has only had four 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 February 18, 2023, Kansas has only played 41 of his 703 games as head coach unranked.

Self has implemented a strong high-low motion offense 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 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.

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

1962

Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach.

1981

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

Self received a basketball scholarship to play at Oklahoma State University.

He was a letter winner all four years he played.

1985

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.

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.

1986

Between 1986 and 1993, Self was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University under Leonard Hamilton, followed by Eddie Sutton.

1993

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/victories.

Things improved slightly the following year, when ORU won ten games.

1996

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.

1998

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.

1999

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.

2000

On June 9, 2000, Illinois named Self the head coach of their basketball program.

Self's predecessor, Lon Kruger, had recently left the Illinois program to accept a job in the NBA as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.

2003

He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003.

2005

During his 20 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to 17 Big 12 regular season championships, including an NCAA record 14 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships, some of which were shared (2005–2018).

2008

He has also led the Jayhawks to three NCAA Final Four appearances (2008, 2012, 2022), the 2008 NCAA championship and 2022 NCAA championship.

2017

Self was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

At the end of the 2021–22 season, Self had the 18th most wins among Division I coaches in NCAA history and 4th among active head coaches.

He is the second-winningest coach in Kansas history, behind only Hall of Famer Phog Allen and is the only coach in Kansas history to lead Kansas to multiple NCAA Tournament National Championships.

As coach at Kansas, Self has a record of 292–16 (.948 win percentage) at Allen Fieldhouse.