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Bill Self

Bill Self (born December 27, 1962 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma) is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas.

He is a four-time finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003), was named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News in 2000, and the Big 12 Coach Year in 2006.

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 for Paul Hansen's Oklahoma State Cowboys, Self spent the 1985-1986 season on Larry Brown's coaching staff at the University of Kansas. 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 its worst record, 5-22, in its history, 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, ORU registered a 21-7 record as the school made its first post season tournament appearance since 1993-1994 in the National Invitation Tournament.

University of Tulsa

After rebuilding the Golden Eagles to MidCon dominance, Self was hired by 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 Hurricanes 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.

University of Illinois

The University of Illinois hired Self in 2000, and Self's teams compiled a remarkable record of 78-24 over three seasons, and the Illini re-established themselves as the best team in the Big 10.

In the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Self coached his number 1-seed Illini to the Elite Eight before losing to 2-seed (and eventual finalist) Arizona. 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. After the 2003 season, however, Roy Williams, with much media hype, left the Kansas to take his “dream job” at the University of North Carolina. This left a vacancy at KU and many in Illinois feared that Self would take what was thought to be his "dream job" with the Jayhawks. In an interview with Terry Boers on Chicago-based WSCR, which was the Illini radio network at the time, Self said that he was happy at Illinois and had no plans to leave the University, stating he planned to “....see the Illini to the next level.” Despite these statements, Self jumped ship for Kansas just a few weeks later.

Self was largely responsible for the recruitment of the 2005 Fighting Illini which won the Big 10 title and went undefeated until the final game of the season, before playing in the NCAA championship game under Bruce Weber, the former Southern Illinois University head coach whom replaced Self prior the the 2004 season. Self's recruits on that team that included current Utah Jazz guards Deron Williams and Dee Brown.

Part of the disappointment from the Illini media and fanbase was the fact that Coach Self had recruited and molded one of the top teams in the nation, including Brown, Williams, and current Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva, a Brooklyn prodigy, was projected to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft. Villanueva was close to turning pro right out of high school, but had been coaxed to the Illini due to the reputation of Coach Self. After Self left for Kansas, however, Villanueva withdrew his commitment to Illinois, and signed a letter of intent to NCAA hoops powerhouse UCONN. The departure of Self and the loss of a top caliber recruit in Villanueva caused an eruption of “Jayhawk-hating” among the Illini fanbase. The Orange Crush, Illinois' travelling student fan section, wore orange t-shirts to the NCAA regionals which had the phrase “Self-ish move” across the front, and relentlessly hounded Self after the Jayhawks first round loss. Self's departure is far from forgotten in Champaign-Urbana and a strong disliking of Kansas continues with Illini faithful to date, though on a much more tempered level.

Kansas Jayhawks

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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 Ramblin' Wreck, 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 tanked with six losses in their final nine games, including a humiliating 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. While 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 blowout of the Tigers in Lawrence (by that time Mizzou coach Quin Snyder had resigned in disgrace after his team lost six straight, including a 90-64 loss to Baylor). 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 regualar season championship with a 14-2 record. Thus, in his first four seasons at KU he has won the conference title three times, outright once. 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. Many people thought that the young Kansas squad's lack of a "go-to guy" in clutch situations contributed to the UCLA loss.

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).

Known for his high quality recruiting successes as he successfully recruited Luther Head, Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and James Augustine at the University of Illinois. All four were intregal parts to the Illini's 2005 National Runner-up team. During his first few seasons at the University of Kansas, he has also gotten 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.

Head coaching record

External links

• University of Kansas Athletics

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• 1962 births
• American basketball players
• American basketball coaches
• Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches
• Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball coaches
• Living people
• Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball coaches
• Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players
• Oral Roberts Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches
• People from Oklahoma
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