Bill Self facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bill Self

Self in 2016
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Kansas
Conference	Big 12
Record	592–140 (.809)
Annual salary	$10.6 million
Biographical details
Born	(1962-12-27) December 27, 1962 (age 62) Okmulgee, Oklahoma, U.S.
Playing career
1981–1985	Oklahoma State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1986	Kansas (assistant)
1986–1993	Oklahoma State (assistant)
1993–1997	Oral Roberts
1997–2000	Tulsa
2000–2003	Illinois
2003–present	Kansas
Head coaching record
Overall	819–245 (.770)
Tournaments	52–22 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 NCAA Division I Tournament (2008, 2022) 4 NCAA Regional – Final Four (2008, 2012, 2018*, 2022) 8 Big 12 tournament (2006–2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2022) 16 Big 12 regular season (2005–2017, 2020, 2022, 2023) Big Ten tournament (2003) 2 Big Ten regular season (2001, 2002) 2 WAC regular season (1999, 2000)
Awards
2× AP College Coach of the Year (2009, 2016) NABC Coach of the Year (2016) Naismith College Coach of the Year (2012) USBWA District Coach of the Year 2022 Adolph Rupp Cup (2012) 6× Big 12 Coach of the Year (2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018) 5× AP Big 12 Coach of the Year (2006, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016) John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2013) Henry Iba Award (2009) WAC Coach of the Year (2000) Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (2013)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2017 (profile)
Medal record Head Coach for  United States Summer Universiade Gold 2015 Gwangju Team competition Head coach for  United States FIBA U18 Championship Gold 2018 St. Catharines Team competition

Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is a famous American basketball coach. He is currently the head coach for the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Coach Self has worked in many coaching jobs at colleges. He has been the Jayhawks' coach since 2003.

At Kansas, Coach Self has led his team to many victories. They have won 17 Big 12 regular season championships. This includes a record of 14 wins in a row. His teams have also reached the NCAA Final Four four times. They won the NCAA Championship in 2008 and 2022. Coach Self has an amazing record at Allen Fieldhouse, their home court. He has won 292 games there and lost only 16. He has also had three winning streaks of over 30 games at home. One streak was 69 games long, which is a school record! Many players he coached went on to play in the NBA.

Coach Self was added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. This is a very special honor for basketball legends. By the end of the 2021–22 season, he was among the top coaches in NCAA history for total wins. He is the coach with the most wins in Kansas history. He is also the only Kansas coach to win more than one NCAA Tournament National Championship. In 2021, he signed a special "lifetime contract" with the Jayhawks. This means he can coach them for as long as he wants. In 2022, he became one of only a few coaches to win multiple NCAA tournament championships.

Early Life and Playing Days

Growing Up in Oklahoma

Billy Eugene Self Jr. was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His dad was a basketball coach for girls' teams. Bill Self went to Edmond Memorial High School. In 1981, he was named Oklahoma High School Basketball Player of the Year.

Playing College Basketball

Self earned a basketball scholarship to play at Oklahoma State University. He played for all four years he was there. He earned a degree in business in 1985. Later, he got a master's degree in athletic administration in 1989. Both degrees were from Oklahoma State.

Coaching Journey

Starting Out as a Coach

In 1985, Bill Self began his coaching career. He joined Larry Brown's staff at the University of Kansas. He was an assistant coach for one season. From 1986 to 1993, he was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State. He worked under coaches Leonard Hamilton and Eddie Sutton.

First Head Coaching Jobs

Self got his first head coaching job at Oral Roberts in 1993. His team won only six games in his first year. But things got better! In his third season, they won 18 games. In his fourth season (1996–1997), Oral Roberts had a great 21–7 record. This was their first time in a postseason tournament in a long time.

After his success at Oral Roberts, Self moved to Tulsa. He coached there for three seasons (1998 to 2000). He had a fantastic record of 74 wins and 27 losses. At Tulsa, he led the team to the NCAA tournament in 1999 and 2000. In the 1999–2000 season, his team won 32 games. They even reached the "Elite Eight" in the NCAA tournament for the first time ever!

On June 9, 2000, Illinois hired Self as their head coach. In his three years at Illinois, he led the team to two Big Ten regular-season championships. They also won a Big Ten tournament title. His teams made it to the NCAA tournament three years in a row.

Leading the Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas hired Bill Self as their head coach in 2003. He took over after Roy Williams left. In his first season at Kansas, Self led the Jayhawks to the Elite Eight. This is a big achievement in the NCAA tournament. In 2008, Self signed a new contract. It made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.

Between 2007 and 2011, Coach Self's Kansas teams won 165 games. That's an average of 33 wins each year! This was one of the highest five-year win totals in Division I history. In the 2010–11 season, the Jayhawks became the second-winningest team in NCAA history. They were only behind Kentucky. In the 2012 NCAA tournament, Kansas reached the championship game. They lost to Kentucky, but it was still a great season. Self was named the Naismith Coach of the Year that year.

On November 18, 2016, Self broke a record at Allen Fieldhouse. He passed Ted Owens for the most wins there, with 207 victories. On December 6, 2016, he got his 600th win as a coach. He was the 9th fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 600 wins. In 2017, he was chosen to be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This is a huge honor for coaches and players.

Self coaching Jayhawks players during a timeout in 2009

In 2019, the Kansas program faced some challenges regarding team rules. In 2022, Coach Self was suspended for the first four games of the season. This was also due to team rule issues. In 2023, some of the Jayhawks' wins from the 2017–18 season were officially removed. This included their Final Four appearance and some Big 12 titles. This happened because of past rule issues.

On April 2, 2021, Self signed a special lifetime contract with Kansas. This means he can coach the team for as long as he wants. In the 2021–22 season, Coach Self led Kansas to their fourth NCAA National Championship! They won a thrilling game against North Carolina. They came back from a 16-point deficit, which was a record for an NCAA title game. After winning the title, Self became one of only two active coaches with two national championships. In November 2023, Coach Self signed an updated lifetime contract. This new contract made him the highest-paid coach in college basketball.

Coach Self's Record

*Some wins from the 2017–18 season were later removed due to past team rule issues. This also affected their Big 12 titles and NCAA Tournament appearance for that season.
**This record does not include games when Coach Self was suspended, but it does include games he missed due to health reasons.

Personal Life

Self with his son Tyler

Bill Self is married and has two children. His daughter graduated from Kansas in 2013. His son, Tyler, played basketball at Kansas from 2012 to 2017. Tyler later worked as a general manager for a basketball team until 2022. Bill Self is a Christian.

In 2006, Bill and his wife, Cindy, started a foundation called ASSISTS. This foundation helps raise money for groups that support young people.

See also

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