Moving up the charts: Bill Self wins second NCAA title, Kansas Jayhawks add a fourth
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Self at age 59 has won his second NCAA Tournament title at Kansas, one more than any other Jayhawks men’s coach in the tradition-rich program’s history.
In directing the Jayhawks, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional, to a 72-69 victory over North Carolina, the No. 8 seed in the East Regional, in Monday night’s title game, Self became the third active men’s coach with multiple NCAA titles. Self’s Jayhawks also won it all in 2008.
The victory at the Caesars Superdome also moved Kansas, which passed Kentucky for the most all-time victories in Division I men’s basketball during the 2021-22 season, past Villanova and into a tie with UConn for sixth in all-time men’s NCAA championships with four.
UCLA remains No. 1 with 11 titles, followed by Kentucky (8), North Carolina (6), Duke (5) and Indiana (5). KU and UConn have four titles, followed by Nova (3).
Cincinnati, Florida, Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State and San Francisco have won two titles apiece.
The Jayhawks have won national titles in 2022, 2008, 1988 and 1952. KU also was retroactively awarded Helms Foundation national titles for the 1922 and ’23 seasons. The NCAA Tournament began in 1939.
With the victory, Self joins Villanova’s Jay Wright and Iona’s Rick Pitino, who each led their teams to two NCAA crowns. Pitino, who won a title at both Louisville and Kentucky, had to forfeit the 2013 crown at Louisville because of NCAA sanctions, thus officially has just one title.
“That’s pretty good company,” Self said after Monday’s game with a smile outside the winner’s locker room.
Earlier, in the interview room, he said of joining Wright as the only active coach with two titles: “That wasn’t on my mind, but I do feel that as many good teams as we’ve had over time, that we could have had more than one.
“So even though, like I said earlier, I never felt pressure from anybody that we had to do this. But I knew with what we’ve had that we easily could have done more. I actually think it means a lot to me. And this year, I don’t know how these guys feel about me, but I’ve never felt more connected to a group than I have this year. And when you go through stuff and when individuals go through stuff, everybody deals with crap. But I never said a word to these guys about anything I was going through (after his dad died during the season), but they rose their own level to a level that propped me up. This is what makes coaching the best, because players can learn from coaches, but certainly coaches can learn from players.”
Self is now tied for seventh place in men’s national titles by a coach. UCLA’s John Wooden leads with 10, followed by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who is retiring with five. Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp has four, followed by Roy Williams (three, all at North Carolina), UConn’s Jim Calhoun (three) and Indiana’s Bob Knight (three).
Coaches with two titles: Self, Louisville’s Denny Crum, Florida’s Billy Donovan (now coach of NBA’s Chicago Bulls), Oklahoma State’s Henry Iba, Cincinnati’s Ed Jucker, Indiana’s Branch McCracken, North Carolina’s Dean Smith, San Francisco’s Phil Woolpert, Villanova’s Wright and Iona’s Pitino (Louisville, Kentucky).
Coaches with one title: KU’s Larry Brown and Phog Allen, plus Scott Drew, Jim Boeheim, Tony Bennett, John Calipari, Tom Izzo, Tubby Smith, Kevin Ollie, Gary Williams, Lute Olson, Jim Harrick, Nolan Richardson, Steve Fisher, Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, Jim Valvano, Jud Heathcote, Joe B. Hall, Al McGuire, Norm Sloan, Don Haskins, George Ireland, Fred Taylor, Pete Newell, Frank McGuire, Ken Loeffler, Nat Holman, Doggie Julian, Vadal Peterson, Everett Shelton, Everett Dean, Bud Foster and Howard Hobson.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 11:03 PM.
