Bill Self

Bill Self

Bill Self (born December 27, 1962 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma) is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to the 2007-2008 NCAA national championship.

Self was named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News in 2000 and 2009, Associated Press in 2009, USBWA Henry Iba Award winner in 2009, and ESPN.com. He was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2009. He is a four-time finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award (2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003).

Self played collegiate basketball at Oklahoma State University, where he was a four-year letterwinner between 1982 and 1985 and was an All-Big Eight freshman selection in 1982. He received his bachelor's degree in business in 1985 and a master's degree in athletic administration in 1989, both from Oklahoma State University.

Collegiate coaching history

Early coaching jobs

After a successful playing career as Oklahoma High School Basketball Player of the Year in 1981 at Edmond High School and then playing for Paul Hansen's Oklahoma State Cowboys, Self joined Larry Brown's coaching staff at the University of Kansas, replacing the position vacated by John Calipari when he accepted an Assistant Coach position at the University of Pittsburgh. Self remained at Kansas as an Assistant Coach through the 1985–1986 seasons. Between 1986 and 1993, Self was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University under Leonard Hamilton, then Eddie Sutton.

Oral Roberts

After Oral Roberts University, in the 1992–1993 season, compiled the worst record in its history, 5–22, Self was hired as head coach of ORU. In his first season at ORU, the team managed just six victories. Things improved slightly the following year when ORU won ten games. In Self's third season at the helm, 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 post season tournament appearance since 1983–1984 in the National Invitation Tournament.

Tulsa

After rebuilding the Golden Eagles, Self was hired by crosstown rival the University of Tulsa and spent three seasons (1998 to 2000) there, compiling a Tulsa-best 74–27 record. While at TU, he coached the Hurricane to two NCAA tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. In 2000, TU went 32–5, setting a school single-season record for victories, as well as coaching the Golden Hurricane to their first-ever Elite Eight appearance.

Illinois

After his success at Tulsa, The University of Illinois picked Self from a list of numerous candidates to succeed Lon Kruger, who moved on to the NBA to coach the Atlanta Hawks. In 2001, his first season at Illinois, Self took over an immensely talented team, and coached his new Fighting Illini squad to a 27-8 record, a share of the Big Ten title, and a number 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Self and star guards Sergio McClain and Corey Bradford along with center Brian Cook led the Illini to the Elite Eight where they met and fell to eventual finalists Arizona in a much disputed contest. The Illini were accused of being overly physical, especially McClain and pesky guard Lucas Johnson (younger brother of former Illini forward Brian Johnson). The '01 Illini team also included future NBA players Frankie Williams and Robert Archibald. With mostly the same core, Illinois followed up the seaon with impressive 2002 and 2003 campaigns, but fell in the sweet 16 in 2002 and the second round in 2003.

After the 2003 season, Roy Williams left the University of Kansas to take his “dream job” at the University of North Carolina. This left a vacancy at KU and many speculated that Self would take what was thought to be his own "dream job" with the Jayhawks. In an interview with Terry Boers on Chicago-based WSCR, the Illini radio network at the time, Self said that he was happy at Illinois [1]and had no plans to leave. Despite these statements, Self left for Kansas just a few days later. [2]

Self was largely responsible for the recruitment of the 2005 Fighting Illini team which won the Big Ten title and finished with a 37–2 record after falling to the Roy Williams coached Tar Heels 75–70 in the NCAA championship game under Bruce Weber, who replaced Self prior to the 2004 season. Self's recruits on that team included four eventual NBA draft picks, Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams, Dee Brown, Luther Head and James Augustine. Self also secured a verbal commitment from forward Charlie Villanueva, who was a projected to be a 1st round pick in the NBA draft out of High School. After Self left for Kansas, however, Villanueva withdrew his commitment to Illinois, opting to attend the University of Connecticut instead.

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, compiling a record of 78–24 in that span- the best three season run in their history.

Kansas

Self (third from left) sitting on the bench with his staff and players in a November 2007 game

In his first season at Kansas, Self led his new Kansas team to the Elite Eight at the NCAA tournament. There they took Georgia Tech to overtime before falling to the Yellow Jackets, finishing his first season at Kansas within 8 points of a Final Four appearance.

Big things were expected of KU in 2004–05, and they began the season #1 and started off 20–1, but then they slumped and lost six of their final nine games, including a loss to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The team finished 23–7 and settled for a Big 12 co-championship with Oklahoma.

In 2005–06, little was expected of the freshman/sophomore dominated Jayhawks, and they began the season 10–6, including 1–2 in the Big 12. Although they did post a 73–46 win over Kentucky, they also saw the end of their 31-game winning streak over rival Kansas State 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 a 89–86 overtime loss at Missouri. But afterward, the Jayhawks matured rapidly, winning 15 of their final 17 games. They picked up impressive road wins over Texas A&M (83-73), Iowa State (95–85), Nebraska (69–48), and Oklahoma State (64–49). They mounted a monumental comeback victory over Oklahoma (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 Tigers in Lawrence. KU did stumble against Texas, taking an 80–55 beating, but they won their final two Big 12 games over Colorado and at Kansas State (avenging the earlier loss at home), and taking advantage of a Texas loss to Texas A&M to force a tie for the Big 12 title at 13–3. KU played as the #2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas, and avenged the loss to Texas with a 80–68 victory over the Longhorns in the final to clinch the Tournament championship and the highlight win of the season. KU was handed a #4 seed for the NCAA Tournament but stumbled again in the first round with a loss to the Bradley Braves.

Prior to the 2006–07 season, Self was 72–24 (.750) in three seasons at KU and 279–129 (.683) in 13 seasons overall and 13–8 in NCAA tourney play. On February 10, 2007, Self recorded his 300th career win in a 92–74 victory at Missouri. Self did lead Kansas to the 2007 Big 12 regular season championship with a 14–2 record, highlighted by beating the Kevin Durant-led Texas Longhorns in monumental come-from-behind victories in the last game of the regular season and in the Big 12 Championship game. 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 number 1 seed, and advanced to Self's fourth career Elite Eight, with the team garnering commanding wins over 16-seed Niagara and 8-seed Kentucky, as well as a tough-fought victory over the 4th-seeded Southern Illinois Salukis. Kansas's tournament run ended in the Elite Eight with a loss to 2-seed UCLA.

In the 2007-2008 season, Self's Kansas team began the season 20–0 until they suffered their first loss at Kansas State, their first loss in their last 24 trips to Manhattan (their last loss on K-State's home court was in 1983). The Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular season title and the Big 12 conference tourney. Thus, in his first five seasons at KU he has won the regular season conference title four times. They received a number one seeding in NCAA Tournament in the MidWest region. On March 30, 2008, Self lead Kansas to a win in an Elite Eight game over upstart Davidson College. KU won by two, 59-57, after a last second shot by Davidsons Jason Richards only drew backboard. The Jayhawks played overall number 1 tournament seed North Carolina in the semifinals, defeating them 84–66. They then defeated the Memphis Tigers to claim the national title in a 75–68 overtime victory in the NCAA Championship Game on April 7, 2008.

Self is one of two active coaches who have led three different teams to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament (Rick Pitino is the other). During his first few seasons at Kansas, he has also persuaded several McDonald's All-Americans to become Jayhawks including Mario Chalmers, Julian Wright, Micah Downs (who later transferred to Gonzaga), Sherron Collins, Darrell Arthur and Cole Aldrich.

In August 2008, Self signed a new 10-year $30 million contract, which will pay him $3 million annually. This made him the second highest paid coach in college basketball at the time, following Florida's Billy Donovan.

Assists Foundation

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. The mission of Assists is to help provide young people access to better lives. This is accomplished by identifying areas of need and working with other community-based institutions to provide creative and lasting solutions.

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 and Disco Dick.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Oral Roberts (Independent) (1993–1997)
1993–1994	Oral Roberts	6-21
1994–1995	Oral Roberts	10-17
1995–1996	Oral Roberts	18-9
1996–1997	Oral Roberts	21-7			NIT 1st Round
Oral Roberts:		55-54 (.505)
Tulsa (Western Athletic Conference) (1997–2000)
1997–1998	Tulsa	19-12	9-5	3rd (Pacific)
1998–1999	Tulsa	23-10	9-5	T-1st (Mountain)	NCAA 2nd Round
1999–2000	Tulsa	32-5	12-2	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
Tulsa:		74-27 (.733)	30-12
Illinois (Big Ten Conference) (2000–2003)
2000–2001	Illinois	27-8	13-3	T-1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2001–2002	Illinois	26-9	11-5	T-1st	NCAA Sweet 16
2002–2003	Illinois	25-7	11-5	2nd	NCAA 2nd Round
Illinois:		78-24 (.765)	35-13
Kansas (Big 12 Conference) (2003–present)
2003–2004	Kansas	24-9	12-4	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
2004–2005	Kansas	23-7	12-4	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
2005–2006	Kansas	25-8	13-3	T-1st	NCAA 1st Round
2006–2007	Kansas	33-5	14-2	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
2007–2008	Kansas	37-3	13-3	T-1st	NCAA Champions
2008–2009	Kansas	27-8	14-2	1st	NCAA Sweet 16
Kansas:		169-40 (.811)	78-18
Total:		376-145 (.723)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• University of Kansas Athletics
• Bill Self's Assists Foundation
• Video interview at a May 16, 2008, pediatric cancer research benefit hosted by Dick Vitale
• "Non-Issue"[3]