Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up
All Scores

Bill Self named Naismith Coach of the Year

Final Four - Ohio State v Kansas

NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 31: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks claps as the Jayhawks were on their way to defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Semifinal game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on March 31, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Bill Self has been lauded all season long for the coaching performance he has had this season, and on Sunday he was rewarded.

Self won the Naismith Award for the National Coach of the Year.

It is a well-deserved honor. Self lost the majority of his roster to graduation or the NBA last season which, when combined with the three members of his recruiting class that were ruled ineligible prior to the season, left Self without depth or playing experience. Despite that, he has managed to get the Jayhawks to the National Title game after winning his fourth straight outright Big 12 title and a share of the title for the eighth straight season.

More impressive, however, has been his performance in the tournament, where adjustments -- switching to a triangle and two defensively -- he made against both Purdue and UNC were the difference in the game.