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Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Self has held various coaching roles at the collegiate level and has been the coach of the Jayhawks since 2003.
At Kansas, Self has led the team to 17 Big 12 regular season championships (including an NCAA record 14 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships), four NCAA Final Four appearances (2008, 2012, 2018, 2022), and to the NCAA Championship in 2008 and 2022. Self has a record of 292–16 (.948 win percentage) at Allen Fieldhouse, and he has had three home winning streaks of more than 30 wins (including a school-record and 11th-best all-time 69 game streak). During his tenure at Kansas, he has recruited several McDonald's All-Americans and coached many players who went onto the NBA.
Self was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. At the end of the 2021–22 season, Self had the 18th most wins among Division I coaches in NCAA history and 4th among active head coaches. He is the winningest coach in Kansas history, having passed Hall of Famer Phog Allen on November 12, 2024, and is the only coach in Kansas history to lead Kansas to multiple NCAA Tournament National Championships. Self was the highest paid NCAA basketball coach for the 2021–22 season earning $10,184,282. He signed a lifetime contract extension with the Jayhawks in 2021. In 2022, Self became the seventh coach to win multiple NCAA tournament championships since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
After rebuilding the Golden Eagles, Self was hired by crosstown rival Tulsa and spent three seasons (1998 to 2000) there, compiling a Tulsa-best 74–27 record. While at TU, Self coached the Golden Hurricane to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. In the 1999–2000 season, in addition to setting a school single-season record for victories by compiling a 32–5 record, Self led the Golden Hurricane to its first-ever Elite Eight appearance.
On June 9, 2000, Illinois named Self the head coach of their basketball program. 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.
Between 2007 and 2011, Self's KU teams won 165 games, an average of 33.0 wins a year, passing Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (164 wins, 32.8 a year from 1998 to 2002) and Jerry Tarkanian of UNLV (163 wins, 32.6 a year from 1987 to 1991) for the highest 5-year win total of any men's basketball coach in Division I history.
In the 2010–11 season, Self led the Jayhawks past North Carolina to end the season at number 2 on the all-time wins list, trailing leader Kentucky by 14 games (List of teams with the most victories in NCAA Division I men's college basketball). The Jayhawks entered the 2012 NCAA tournament as a #2-seed in the Midwest Regional and ultimately lost in the championship game to Kentucky 67–59. The Jayhawks concluded the year with a 32–7 record, and Self was named the Naismith Coach of the Year. On November 18, 2016, after an 86–65 win over Siena, Self passed Ted Owens for most wins at Allen Fieldhouse with 207. On December 6, 2016, Self achieved his 600th win with a 105–62 win over UMKC. He is the 9th fastest coach in NCAA history to win 600 games. On February 18, 2017, Self was announced as one of 14 finalists named from over 100 candidates to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The inductees were announced April 3 prior to the National Championship game. Under Bill Self, the Kansas Jayhawks set the NCAA record for most consecutive conference regular-season titles in college basketball history with 14 straight Big 12 titles. That streak ran from the 2004-05 season through the 2017-18 season. It surpassed the former record held by UCLA who won 13 straight Pacific-8 (Pac-8) conference titles from 1967 to 1979 under coach John Wooden. In September 2019, Self and the Kansas program were served a Notice of Allegations by the NCAA for five Level 1 violations, a head coach responsibility charge against Self personally, and a lack of institutional control charge against the University of Kansas. Self's individual punishments could include a suspension or an effective ban from college basketball for several years or more (a "show cause" penalty against any program looking to hire Self)." Kansas coach Bill Self defiant in wake of NCAA investigation". ESPN, October 23, 2019. Accessed August 7, 2020. Self has denied throughout the investigation that the Kansas coaching staff knew Adidas was paying recruits to go there.Dana O'Neil and Bruce Feldman. " New court filing: Kansas assistant coach talked of routing funds to recruit’s family". The Athletic, January 29, 2021. Accessed March 24, 2021.
On April 2, 2021, Self signed a lifetime contract with Kansas. Every year after the initial five years, an extra year will be automatically added to the contract and that will continue until he retires or dies. The financial terms of the contract were not immediately disclosed. During the 2021–22 season, Self led Kansas to its fourth NCAA National Championship in program history, capped by a 72–69 victory over North Carolina in the National Championship game on April 4, 2022. The Jayhawks overcame a 16-point deficit and a 15-point halftime deficit to win, both NCAA title game records. By winning the title, combined with the retirements of Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright at the end of the season, Self moved into a tie with Rick Pitino as the only active coaches with two national championships.
On November 2, the University of Kansas suspended Self for the first four games of the 2022–23 season after a recruiting violation, which included the team's Champions Classic game against Duke. Just before the start of the Big 12 Tournament, Self endured a health issue and was unable to coach the Jayhawks for the postseason. Kansas assistant Norm Roberts took over. The Jayhawks would go on to the title game of the Big 12 tournament, losing to Texas. They received the one seed in the west region, beating Howard before losing to Arkansas.
In 2023, due to recruiting violations, 15 of the Jayhawks wins from the 2017–18 season, their Final Four appearance, Big 12 regular season title, and Big 12 Tournament title were all vacated by the NCAA. On November 7, 2023, Self signed an amended lifetime contract with Kansas. The contract was signed to continue being a lifetime contract, however, the amended contract gave him a raise to make him the highest paid coach in the country.
In June 2006, Self and his wife, Cindy, established the ASSISTS foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization to serve as a fundraising conduit for organizations that serve a variety of youth initiatives.
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