For 15 years, Bill Self was college basketball’s most inevitable figure.
The Big 12 couldn’t beat him. The NCAA and even the FBI couldn’t take him down. Maybe he left a couple national championships on the table, but he got two — and every year when March Madness began, Kansas was usually one of the teams to beat.
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It’s an all-time run. Is it over?
After Kansas was eliminated Sunday by St. John’s in the NCAA tournament second round, Self said “I haven’t decided” when asked if he will coach in 2026-27, citing health issues that have plagued him going back to 2023 when he was forced to miss the Big 12 and NCAA tournament after needing a stent to treat a blocked artery.
“I’ll get back and get with family and visit and see what’s going on,” he said. “I love what I do. I need to be able to do it where I’m feeling good and healthy to do it fairly well, so I’ll get back home and it’ll all be discussed.”
Kansas coach Bill Self didn’t give a definitive answer when asked whether he’d be back for next season after the Jayhawks’ NCAA tournament loss to St. John’s. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
(Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images)
Sunday marked the fourth straight year for Kansas losing in the first or second round. Over the last three seasons, Self has gone 33-23 in a conference he dominated for more than a decade.
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Around the Big 12, there has been speculation among coaches and administrators all season that this might be Self’s final year given both the declining results in the NIL era and the health problems. Self had to miss a game at Colorado in January after being treated for dehydration and atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular heart rate.
Self, 63, has taken Kansas to four Final Fours — although one of them, 2018, was stripped from the record books due to playing an ineligible player, Silvio de Sousa, after a former Adidas executive admitted in court that he paid $20,000 to De Sousa’s family to attend Kansas.
Self escaped that case, which was part of the FBI’s inquiry into college basketball, with minimal punishments despite the program being charged with five Level 1 NCAA violations stemming from its ties to Adidas.
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“It’s certainly a year that didn’t seem like anything about it was very smooth,” Self said. “I’m probably looking at [my career] now more in two]year increments so I’ve tried to focus on this season and get us to a second weekend which we failed. So I’ll go back and break it down and see where that leads.”
