Where Does Bill Self Rank Among the Greatest Coaches in Kansas Basketball History?

As Self prepares to become the winningest coach in KU history, is there any debate over who's No. 1?

Apr 4, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self reacts after cutting down the net after their win against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament Final Four championship game at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Kansas has the most storied tradition of coaching in college basketball history, and on Tuesday the Jayhawks (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) and Bill Self have a chance to place a cornerstone in the foundation of that legacy.

When KU faces Michigan State (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) in a neutral-site, non-conference contest in Atlanta (5:30 CT, ESPN), Self will be in position to surpass Jayhawks coaching legend Phog Allen as the all-time winningest coach in KU history. Now, that’s saying something. But to really put it in perspective, we’ve ranked the top five greatest Kansas basketball coaches in the 126-plus years of the program’s lore.

Just remember: We aren’t just talking Xs and Os here. “Greatest” implies something slightly different than “best" in this case, although – and with apologies to Dick Harp and his maddeningly mortal .596 winning percentage – it sure helps to go out and win games.

5. Larry Brown (1983-1988)

Record at Kansas: 177-61 (.744 winning percentage)
Overall: 135-44 (75.4 percent)

Although he spent only five years in Lawrence, for the itinerant Brown it must have felt like a lifetime. To be fair, he jammed almost a career’s worth of accomplishments into his stay with the Jayhawks, who under Brown’s guidance won the NCAA Championship (1988), made another Final Four (1986) and sent Danny Manning into the NBA as the draft’s No. 1 overall pick in ‘88. Brown followed Manning there, to become head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, after that title-winning season.

4. Roy Williams (1988-2003)

Record at Kansas: 903-264 (.774 percent)
Overall: 418-101 (80.5 percent)

Ol’ Roy is still a polarizing figure to some on the Plains, but even the grouchiest hater has to acknowledge that Williams did his part to carry the torch across the lineage of Kansas coaching greats. In 15 seasons at KU, he guided the Jayhawks to 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, nine Big 12 regular-season championships, four Final Fours and two NCAA championship games.

Couldn’t win the big one, you say? Look, Bill Self went 14 years between titles. Phog Allen won just one in 39 years. Williams got his ring – three of ‘em, in fact. But he went to Chapel Hill to do it – and that is what chaps so many rumps around Lawrence.

3. Bill Self (2003-present)

Record at Kansas: 797-248 (.763 percent)
Overall: 580-138 (80.8 percent)

So how does a current Hall of Famer and two-time NCAA national champion who has won four out of every five Division I games he has ever coached wind up ranking only third on this list? You’ll see. In the meantime, Self resume is unassailable: 292-16 record at Allen Fieldhouse, three home win streaks of 30-plus games – including 69 in a row. Nice.

Even better, Self extended KU’s long legacy of sending Jayhawks into the pros – particularly big men such as Joel Embiid, the Morris brothers, Darrell Arthur and Cole Aldrich, but also high-performing backcourt players such as Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre, Ben McLemore and Devonte’ Graham. Self has undeniably played a critical role in keeping the pipeline of aspiring NBA talent flowing through Lawrence.

Head Coach Bill Self is now tied for the most wins as a Head Coach in Kansas Basketball history 🙌 pic.twitter.com/dHnIPKXTFq

— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) November 9, 2024

2. Forrest “Phog” Allen (1907-09, 1919-1956)

Record at Kansas: 590-219 (.729 winning percentage)
Overall: Same

His name isn’t on the building by accident: In 39 years of coaching Kansas, Allen won 24 conference championships and directed the Jayhawks to three Final Fours and, in the glorious Clyde Lovellette Consensus Player of the Year campaign of 1951-52, one NCAA title. But it was Allen’s other accomplishments that make him an all-time legend, even over the more decorated Self.

The branches of Allen’s coaching tree – which include Hall of Fame coaches Dutch Lonborg, Adolph Rupp, Ralphi Miller and Dean Smith – are staggering. Even more enduring were his general (but monumental) contributions to college basketball in general, including asserting his influence to get basketball added to the Olympic Games and having a direct hand in the creation of the NCAA Tournament. No wonder he’s still called “The Father of Basketball Coaching.”

1. James Naismith (1898-1907)

Record at Kansas: 55-60 (.478 winning percentage)
Overall: Same

If Allen is the father, then Naismith – with apologies to the late, great Keith Jackson – has to be considered “The Granddaddy of Them All.”

Quibble all you want with his record or lack of championships, but you wouldn’t be reading this without Dr. James Naismith. He literally invented the game, and if not for him, Flory Bidunga is somewhere on the other side of the world playing volleyball or rugby, and Wilt Chamberlain would have been just another track star and master thespian. (We’ll go to bat for “Conan the Destroyer” any day of the week.) Anyhow, Kansas – and the world – owes Naismith a debt of gratitude. Thanks, Doc.

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