What Bill Self has accomplished in 23 seasons as Kansas men’s basketball coach
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- Bill Self led Kansas to two national titles and four Final Fours.
- Self has 633 KU wins, Naismith Hall induction and a 2021 lifetime deal.
- Health issues and early exits left Self’s future uncertain; he announced return Wednesday.
Bill Self on Wednesday evening announced he will return for a 24th season as KU men’s basketball coach. Already, he’s long left his mark as one of the most influential coaches in college basketball.
It’s been a long path to get to a point where Self could even consider the end of his illustrious career (as he did the last two weeks); the Oklahoma native never had to leave the greater Midwest.
Self, 63, first took over as the leader of the Jayhawks in 2003 at age 40, replacing future Hall of Famer Roy Williams after a national championship appearance.
It was a return to Lawrence for Self. He started his coaching career there as an assistant for Hall of Famer Larry Brown in 1985-86.
His path led him to be an assistant at his alma mater Oklahoma State, with head coaching stints at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois.
Self’s teams haven’t missed the NCAA Tournament since his first year at Tulsa in 1997-98, a postseason streak of nearly 30 years. He led the Golden Hurricane to the program’s lone Elite Eight appearance two seasons later.
Self also led Illinois to an Elite Eight the next year, making the tournament each of his three years with the Illini.
Any KU fan could probably rattle off Self’s accomplishments as the general of Allen Fieldhouse. They’re shown on the big screen before each home game.
Two national titles, four Final Fours, 17 Big 12 regular-season titles (nine tournament titles), several coach of the year awards.
Self was named a Naismith Hall of Famer in 2017 and signed a “lifetime contract” in 2021.
He is the winningest coach in Kansas history with 633 wins, passing the arena’s namesake and Hall of Famer Phog Allen in 2024, and is the only KU coach to win multiple national championships. Countless All-Americans and NBA players have come through Self’s programs, including former No. 1 selection Andrew Wiggins.
But in the past few years, since KU’s 2022 national title, Self has been hospitalized several times for heart problems. His teams also haven’t made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since raising the trophy.
Those health issues made Self uncertain if he’d coach next season. But he said he’s feeling “as good as I’ve felt in a long time” health-wise after losing in the NCAA Tournament in late-March.
KU’s recent shortcomings, so to speak, in making a tournament run have led to some online discourse about the future of the program.
The Jayhawks reached the Final Four in 2018 and won a national title in 2022. In 2020, they were the likely No. 1 overall seed before the tournament was canceled. But in that span — to present — they’ve also missed the second weekend every other season.
But one thing is certain: When Self steps down, eventually, the coach who will replace a man who is fourth on the list of winningest active head coaches may be stepping into the highest-pressure job in the nation.
“When you get to be doing it as long as I’ve done it, I (used to) look at it in five-year increments. Now I’m probably looking at it in more two-year increments, so to speak,” Self said after KU’s buzzer-beater loss to St. John’s in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Self has 841 wins as a head coach entering next season. He has coached 23 seasons at KU.
“So I try to focus on this season and try to get us to a second weekend, which we failed at,” Self said. “So I’ll go back now and break it down and see where that leads.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2026 at 2:30 PM.
