Although it was April Fool’s Day, there was no fooling around when the Kansas Jayhawks’ Twitter account for the men’s basketball program published a post Wednesday at 6:29 p.m. Eastern.
There was one sentence in the post: “He’s not going anywhere.”
Of course, he is Bill Self, who had a note to Jayhawk Nation attached to the social-media post.
“Jayhawk Nation,
With renewed clarity and the ongoing support from our administration, I remain focused and committed to Kansas Basketball competing for a National Championship.
I look forward to seeing and hearing the best fans in college basketball next season at
Allen Fieldhouse.
Coach Bill Self.”
With that, the 63-year-old Self silenced all retirement talk and put a rest to all media speculation about a Coaching Carousel that already has another blueblood program, North Carolina, in search of its next head coach. Self will be back in Lawrence for his 24th season at KU.
In his first 23 years, Self has taken the Jayhawks to 22 NCAA Tournaments. The lone exception was the 2020 event that didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. If that Tournament had taken place, Kansas would’ve likely been the No. 1 overall seed ahead of Dayton.
Self has led KU to a pair of national championships, four Final Four appearances, nine Elite Eights and 11 Sweet 16’s. However, the Jayhawks have been sent packing during the first weekend of four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and six of the last seven.
Kansas lost to St. John’s on a buzzer beater in this season’s Round of 32.
Following the loss to the Red Storm, Self was asked about his future. “I’ll get back and visit with family,” he said at the time. “I’ve had, obviously, some issues off the court healthwise. And that will be discussed. But I love what I do. I want to feel good while I’m doing it, though.”
Self missed the 2023 Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments after reporting to the KU medical staff that he was experiencing balance issues and chest tightness. He underwent a procedure that inserted two stents for the treatment of blocked arteries in his heart.
Self was hospitalized again and missed a game against Colorado in January. The school’s announcement said that the hospital trip was “out of an abundance of caution” because he wasn’t feeling well.
Before arriving at KU to replace Roy Williams, Self led Illinois to three straight NCAA Tournament berths, including a trip to the Elite Eight in his first season. He went 4-2 in six NCAA Tournament games during his three-year tenure at Tulsa prior to replacing Lon Kruger at Illinois. In fact, he led the Golden Hurricane to a 32-5 record and an Elite Eight appearance during the 1999-2000 campaign.
Self has a 648-167 record at Kansas. His career record is 855-272 (75.9%) in his four stops, including a four-year reign at Oral Roberts.
Self is ranked #12 in career wins and #23 in winning percentage in college basketball history.