March 03, 2017

Bill Self named Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist

ATLANTA – Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has been named one of 10 national semifinalists for the 2017 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday morning. Self won the honor in 2012 and has been a finalist seven times.

Here are some highlights for Self in 2016-17 as No. 1/1 Kansas is 27-3 overall and 15-2 in Big 12 play:

Currently No. 1/1 in both national polls, Kansas has been ranked in the top five in all but one week by Associated Press and two weeks in the USA Today Coaches’ polls. The Jayhawks have been No. 3 or higher in every poll since Dec. 5.
Kansas is 5-0 against teams ranked in the top-10 this season, including a 4-0 record against top-five opponents.
In his first home contest of the season, a KU 86-65 win against Siena (Nov. 18), Self became the winningest coach in Allen Fieldhouse history. At 220-10, Self has more conference titles (13) than home losses in Allen Fieldhouse.
From Nov. 15-Jan. 21, Kansas won 18 consecutive games, which was the second longest winning streak in Self’s 14 seasons and marked the 15th time in the Self era the Jayhawks have won 10 consecutive games.
Kansas won the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (Nov. 21-22), which was the sixth in-season tournament title in Self’s 14 seasons at KU, including each of the last three years.
Self became the ninth-fastest coach in NCAA history to record 600 career wins with a 105-62 win against UMKC (Dec. 6).
Self won his 400th game while at Kansas with an 81-70 win at Oklahoma (Jan. 10). He became the fastest KU coach to accomplish the 400-win plateau.
Self was named a finalist for induction to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Self guided Kansas to its NCAA-record-tying 13th-consecutive Big 12 regular-season title in 2016-17. The Jayhawks tied UCLA’s 13-straight from 1967-79. UCLA accomplished the feat under three coaches, while Kansas’ current run has been under Self.
At 27-3, Kansas has won at least 27 games 10 times in the Bill Self era.
Four Jayhawks were named to the 2017 Academic All-Big 12 team giving Self a conference-high 35 honorees during his time a Kansas.

Historically, in 2012 Self became the third Kansas coach to be named the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year, which started in 1987. Larry Brown won the honor in 1988 and Roy Williams in 1997.

From March 3-13, a national voting academy will submit ballots to narrow the list to four finalists, which will be announced on the morning of Thursday, March 16 via Twitter (@Naismithtrophy). From there the final round of voting runs from March 20-30. Fans have a say in the overall voting process. From 9 a.m. CDT on March 20 through 10:59 p.m. CDT on March 31 fans can cast their ballot at naismithtrophy.com/vote. One vote per person per category per day. Fan vote will account for 5% of the total vote. The awarding of the 2017 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year award will be at the Naismith Awards annual Final Four Awards Brunch on Sunday, April 2 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

2017 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year National Semifinalists
Chris Collins, Northwestern
Scott Drew, Baylor
Mark Few, Gonzaga
Bob Huggins, West Virgnia
Tim Jankovich, SMU
Sean Miller, Arizona
Rick Pitino, Louisville
BILL SELF, KANSAS
Mike White, Florida
Jay Wright, Villanova

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