Lost in the thick of the regular NFL refs returning and a slew of wild college football games this weekend was a significant development in college basketball: Kansas head coach Bill Self extended his contract with the school through the 2021-’22 season.
It’s possible that’s only a significant story to college hoops fans. It’s also possible even they thought nothing of it. And it’s likely I just really wanted to write a column about college basketball.
I wasn’t surprised to hear KU extended Self; the guy has led the Jayhawks to either an outright or co-Big 12 regular season conference title every year since 2004-’05, Self’s second season in Lawrence (KU tied for second in the conference during Self’s first season). Included in that run is a national championship in 2008-’09.
Kansas also reached the national championship game last season (where it lost to the Kentucky Freshmen) without a slew of star players or NBA talent. Forward Thomas Robinson was a top-five pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, but the Jayhawks’ roster last season was composed mostly of solid role players. In other words, Self maximized the talent out of his guys.
The KU campus is one of a handful in the nation where the men’s basketball program is far more popular than the football team, and Self has been the model of consistency during his nine years in Lawrence.
In fact, he has more wins than any college hoops coach over the past 10 seasons. Quite frankly, I was surprised athletic director Sheahon Zenger didn’t lock up Self to a longer deal.
I was surprised by the four-year extension because one of KU’s assistant coaches, Danny Manning, left after last season to take the head coaching job at Tulsa. Manning, who led Kansas to a national championship as a player back in 1988, had loads of success training the Jayhawk big men during his final five seasons on the coaching staff.
The aforementioned Robinson went from playing less than 15 minutes per game as a sophomore to a Naismith Player of the Year candidate and double-double machine as a junior.
The play of forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris—both a year older than Robinson—was the only reason he didn’t play much as a sophomore. The Morris twins went on to be lottery picks in the 2011 NBA Draft, and Cole Aldrich, a 2010 lottery pick, reaped the benefits of Manning’s tutelage before them.
With the exception of Self, you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy on that KU staff that commanded more respect than Manning.
He played a big role in Kansas’ success the last five years, and I think KU needed to show its confidence in Self when Manning left. While the four-year deal appears to show faith in Self, I can’t help but view it as a backhanded compliment.
It took some time for Self to earn his stripes in Lawrence. His early success at KU was chalked up to simply winning with former Jayhawks coach Roy Williams’ recruits. Kansas’ spot atop the Big 12 conference year-in and year-out under Self wasn’t enough to quiet the critics, but the Jayhawks’ national championship in 2008-’09—the roster for which was composed entirely of Self’s recruits—finally solidified Self as the right man for the job.
I remember rooting for the Jayhawks in that title game as though they were my hometown team; I so badly wanted Self to garner the respect he deserved. Plus I had $40 on KU, so there was that, too.
Bill Self is under contract at Kansas for the next 10 seasons. The athletic department made the appropriate move to extend him, but it’s as though Zenger had a meat lovers’ pizza and only offered Self the crusts. He’s earned more than that.
Do you think Self earned his new extension? Let Vince know what you think at Sports@dailycardinal.com
