Ranking Bill Self’s best coaching jobs during 11-year Big 12 title run: No. 1
photo by: Nick Krug
Kansas coach Bill Self raises his fists to the KU fans in the Alamodome.
1. 2007-08: The only Final Four with four No. 1 seeds featured coaches John Calipari, Roy Williams and Ben Howland, who was coaching in his third consecutive Final Four, and Bill Self, the only Final Four first-timer.
Self had established such an unselfish culture and such superior ball movement with this group that Brandon Rush led the team in scoring in three consecutive seasons and never averaged more than 13.8 points per game in any season.
Yet, even though Rush was the leading scorer, it was fellow junior Mario Chalmers who had developed into the man teammates looked to get the ball to in the biggest moments.
In the semifinal, freshman Cole Aldrich’s coming out party, Kansas took a 40-12 lead vs. North Carolina, which stormed back to within 54-50, only to lose to Kansas, 84-66.
In the title game, Chalmers’ three-pointer sent it into overtime, where Kansas won, 75-68. Chalmers had 18 points and four steals, but was he the player of the game? Or was it Darrell Arthur (20 points, 10 rebounds), Brandon Rush (12 points, six boards, superior defense) or Sherron Collins (11 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals, clutch play at the end). The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t matter. Wearing his general manager’s cap, Self had put together a talented team in which all the parts fit and made sense. Wearing his coach’s whistle, he brought them to a place where each individual put the team first. It remains his best of many great coaching jobs.
Big 12 standings:
Kansas 13-3
Texas 13-3
Kansas State 10-6
Oklahoma 9-7
Baylor 9-7
Texas A&M 8-8
Nebraska 7-9
Texas Tech 7-9
Oklahoma State 7-9
Missouri 6-10
Iowa State 4-12
Colorado 3-13