Bill Self will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest coaches to ever do it. NCAA National Championships have become an annual expectation at KU, and his contribution to the university is a key reason it will remain that way after he retires.
But the question becomes, how much longer will he remain with the Jayhawks?
In Isaac Trotter’s latest article titled “100 And 1 days until college basketball: Stars, storylines, contenders and pretenders for 2026-27 season,” he breaks down a potential exit for Self.
“The Kansas Hall of Famer has had multiple alarming health scares, including missing a game against Colorado last season because he was hospitalized with AFib, which is an irregular heartbeat. Self contemplated retirement this spring before choosing to return to the sidelines to give it a go.”
Rumors of Self’s exit started after KU fell to St. John’s in last season’s Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
After a grueling 10 days of speculation, Self announced he would return, sending waves of excitement through the university.
“Self, now 63, has not made it to the second weekend since Kansas won the National Championship in 2022. Is he pining for another run? And can this Kansas team actually scale that mountain? KU is going to be in the spotlight all season because this could very well be it for Self, who is one of the best offensive coaches in the history of the sport.”
There rightfully are questions about this team. There are almost zero holdovers from last season; instead, a talented freshman class and a relatively novice transfer portal class are set to lead the way. But with that also comes genuine excitement over what this team can do.
The biggest thing you can ask from any coach is that they fix on their errors from the previous year.
Last season the Jayhakws finished as one of the nation's worst scoring offenses, scoring just 75.1 points per game, good for 161st best.
Fortunately, they are bringing in the likes of Dennis Parker Jr. who scored 53 points in one game last season and Leroy Blyden Jr. a young, exciting guard who notched 16.4 points per game in his freshman campaign. Those two alone should help improve Kansas’ numbers; adding Keanu Dawes and Christian Reeves can only help as well.
Self’s legacy is borderline unbeatable
As readers will see in the coming days, there have only been eight coaches in Kansas’ history and none have achieved the success Self has.
Self holds a record of 648-167 in his 815 games at the helm of the Jayhawks, and during his stay, he has notched four Final Four appearances along with two national titles and 17 Big 12 regular season titles.
Since the 2022 national title, form has slightly dipped, Self is still compiling star rosters. Things haven’t been perfect (you can look at last year as a perfect example), but Self still has the ability to pull the nation’s top talent. If this is his final year at the helm, there is plenty to be excited about.
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