Bill Self has accomplished everything most coaches could ever dream of.
He’s won multiple conference championships (set an NCAA record in fact), multiple conference tournament championships, and a national championship back in 2008. Oh, and he’s already been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
There’s nothing Bill Self has left to prove. But he does have a lot to gain.
Bill Self can join some exclusive company
There are dozens of coaches past and present who have won an NCAA championship. Kansas has had three of those coaches in its illustrious history – Phog Allen, Larry Brown, and Bill Self.
However, only 15 coaches have won more than once. Bill Self could join that elite company with one more national championship.
In the minds of many Kansas fans, Self is already the best coach in program history. It’s hard to argue based on all his accomplishments over the past 18 years.
But if he wins another NCAA title, then the debate is all but over.
Phog Allen had three national championships as head coach of the Jayhawks, but only one of those were technically an NCAA title.
His 1922 and 1923 championships were awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded by Paul Helms and Bill Schroeder in 1936. Schroeder used various research methods to retroactively award national championships to teams prior to 1939 – the year the NCAA Tournament began.
Since the NCAA doesn’t recognize Helms champions, another NCAA championship could be the opportunity for Self to cement himself as the greatest coach in the history of Kansas basketball, and join an elite group of coaches who have won multiple NCAA titles.
This Kansas basketball team looks the part
There is plenty to be optimistic about with this year’s Kansas team and their national title hopes.
There’s a reason why the Jayhawks are the Big 12 preseason favorites and are the AP No. 3-ranked team in the country heading into the season. They also have three players nominated as Preseason All-Big 12 performers, including the Preseason Player of the Year Remy Martin.
The Jayhawks have no glaring weakness from one through five.
Remy Martin looks every bit the type of point guard that the Jayhawks have been missing. He’s tough, he can drive, he can create shots for himself and for others, and he has the mentality to go get a bucket when this team needs him to.
Ochai Agbaji is a senior now who looks like he’s gotten better in the offseason. You can bet that we’re going to see the best version of his game this year as he looks to improve his NBA draft stock in his final college season.
Christian Braun and DaJuan Harris are the two players Bill Self called the most improved of this year’s team. And senior David McCormack is an experienced post player who was arguably KU’s most consistent scoring threat for the better part of last season.
Jalen Wilson is probably KU’s best pro prospect among the players who have been in the program for at least a few years. When he returns to the lineup for Kansas, they’ll have shooters from 1-4 that will make this team extremely hard to defend.
As I alluded to earlier this year, KU’s strongest asset this year may be their experience. The Jayhawks have four of five starters returning from last year’s squad, which means chemistry shouldn’t be a problem, despite all the new faces from the transfer portal and incoming freshman class.
Those are the types of teams that tend to do well come March because they’ve experienced the tournament feel and they know how to handle the pressure that comes with playing at Kansas. Not to mention, veteran guard play might be the single-most important attribute to a championship roster.
Kansas also has as deep of a roster as they’ve had in recent memory, leaving Self no shortage of options should players get injured or play poorly.
Other than the 2019-20 team whose postseason chances were erased due to COVID, this may be Self’s most talented group since the 2008 title team, and the one most capable of getting him that second national championship which has eluded him for 13 years.