Bill Self has become one of the best college basketball coaches of all time during his 32-year career shared between Oral Roberts (55-54), Tulsa (72-27), Illinois (78-24), and his place in the world, Kansas (624-156).
Self has won two national championships in four Final Four appearances, while collecting two AP Coach of the Year and six Big 12 Coach of the Year awards, among others.
The 63-year-old coach received the ultimate recognition of his career in 2017, as he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Self was five years away from winning his second national championship, but his contributions to the game are bigger than that.
Bill Self was humbled by Hall of Fame induction
At the time, the coach couldn’t believe he would receive such an honor. He explained that everything hit him when he arrived in Springfield, Mass., ahead of the ceremonies.
“When we all found out in April we were pretty overwhelmed with this but this didn’t actually hit me until we got to Springfield and being in this arena and seeing all the portraits, it’s very humbling,” Self said. “I’m very excited to be here this weekend and I’m so excited to be able to see people who have played a significant role in me having the opportunity to do what I do there (at Kansas).”
Self hasn’t had the easiest offseason, as he experienced a health scare that raised many eyebrows. That seems to be in the past now and the coach prepares to mentor top-ranked guard Darryn Peterson.