Throughout the past 14 years of turbulence and allegations, victories and successes, Kansas coach Bill Self carried his father’s lessons with him. From the last all-of-college-basketball title he won in 2008 through every season before this one, he pulled his beloved Bill Sr. alongside, past a defeat in the last championship game held in New Orleans (’12) to the first NCAA tournament erased by a pandemic (’20).
Bill Sr., who died in January at 82 due to undisclosed reasons, taught his son that the soul of any coach is formed from two important tenets: relationships, all the nurturing and teaching that crafted individual players into a greater whole; and constitution, how leaders carried themselves in times of crisis. Senior blew up on the boy for seemingly benign mistakes, like not mowing the lawn exactly straight or giving a less-than-full effort in a practice drill. But whenever something major happened, Senior pivoted, comforting his son, helping Self assess whatever had arisen, because fixing all the minor issues helped build a foundation that could withstand any massive ones.
Friends of Bill Self joke now about the broad shoulders, oil-town ethos and upbringing in Okmulgee, Okla., his being attached to a no-nonsense basketball coach who passed along far more than a name. Self, now 59, also carried them with him back to another Final Four in New Orleans. He wanted to win for friends, for family, for his father’s memory, for past star players who didn’t lift the trophy, for the coaches who departed and for the program he long ago took over.
