Bill Self, whose Kansas University basketball team started the conference season 1-2 only to rally to grab a portion of the Big 12 Conference championship, has been rewarded for his patience and perseverance.

On Monday, his peers - the league coaches - tapped him conference coach of the year. Later in the week, he's expected to be accorded the same honor by the conference's media members.

The slam dunk for Self was easy to understand, said KU sophomore guard Russell Robinson, tickled that his coach's efforts had been recognized.

"He's been a great coach, just saying the right things to us. He stuck with us and definitely stayed positive the whole time," Robinson said.

The Jayhawks rallied for 12 wins in their final 13 games to record a 13-3 mark, good for a first-place tie with Texas. Overall, KU started 3-4 and now owns a 22-7 mark.

"He was patient and found a way to get us some wins. A lot of those wins were because of his coaching. Pretty much all those wins are because of his coaching. His attitude kept us confident," Robinson said.

Self, who has directed KU to two league titles in three seasons, praised his assistant coaches, and, of course, the players.

"The coach-of-the-year deal is nice. I'm not going to lie," he said, "but that's all a reflection of the players. That's the way it always works. If you have good players, you have a good chance to win those things. If you don't have good players, you don't. Certainly, we have good players and good people."

Some of his players also were honored Monday.

Freshman Brandon Rush became the first frosh in league history to be accorded first-team all-league honors.

Rush also was named freshman of the year. Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright were named honorable-mention all league.

Also, Chalmers and Robinson were named to the league's all-defensive team. Chalmers, Rush and Wright made the all-rookie team.

"I'm happy. I've still got a lot of things to improve on the rest of the season. We want to accomplish a lot more the rest of the season," Rush said, asked about his all-league honor.

Self said Rush "deserves it. If you are going to tie for the championship, you at least have got to get one guy up there you would think. I thought Mario deserved third team, and Russell deserved honorable mention, but there's a lot of other coaches that say the same thing about their players. Brandon certainly played at a high level and led us from start to finish."

Self has worked his magic tutoring a team whose seven top scorers are freshmen and sophomores.

"Having a team that's young win six road games and all of them by double figures, that's gratifying to me because we're so young," he said.

This year's team finished a game better in the league than last year's 12-4 squad, one that started three seniors. Not bad for a team that started 3-4, KU's worst start since the 1970-71 season.

"We coached the same way we always have," he said. "The key to evaluating a coach is whether or not his team plays to its potential, and only the coaches know what the potential is. Our potential last year wasn't to where we were ranked in the preseason. Our potential this year was much better than what we were ranked in the preseason (unrated in top 25, third in league)."

Practices actually have been shorter with this young team.

"A lot shorter, because we go harder," Self said of workouts that rarely go over two hours. "Last year or the year before it seemed we had to go longer to get it right. Part of it is attention span. I made a deal with them: If they go really hard, then we wouldn't go as long. They like that formula."

Frosh Mario Chalmers said: "I'm proud of coach. We're all proud of him. He helped us. He taught us a lot."

Seed talk: KU coach Self said he envisioned the Jayhawks receiving anywhere from a No. 3 to 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. "Our seed could be affected positively or negatively by our performance this weekend," he said of the Big 12 Tourney.

No commitment: Darrell Arthur's high school coach told rivals.com Monday the 6-9 senior from Dallas' South Oak Cliff High had not committed to KU. Apparently a radio reporter Monday in Kansas City indicated a commitment was imminent. He is considering KU, Baylor, Texas and SMU.

NBA talk: A Hawk Talk radio-show caller expressed hope all of KU's freshmen would return next season and not turn pro: "I think two for sure (will return) and a great chance the third may come back," Self said of Wright and Chalmers returning, and Brandon Rush being the one question mark. " We will not discuss it or bring it up until the season is over. Hopefully, we have a lot of ball left. We could play as few as two and have as many as nine games left."

Coaches' all-big 12 teams

FIRST TEAM

Richard Roby, 6-6, Soph., Colorado

Brandon Rush, 6-6, Fr., Kansas

LaMarcus Aldridge, 6-10, Soph., Texas

P.J. Tucker, 6-5, Jr., Texas

Jarrius Jackson, 6-1, Jr., Texas Tech

SECOND TEAM

Curtis Stinston, 6-3, Jr., Iowa State

Cartier Martin, 6-8, Jr., Kansas State

Terrell Everett, 6-4, Sr., Oklahoma

Taj Gray, 6-9, Sr., Oklahoma

Joseph Jones, 6-9, Soph., Texas A&M

THIRD TEAM

Will Blalock, 6-0, Jr., Iowa State

Thomas Gardner, 6-5, Jr., Missouri

Brad Buckman, 6-8, Sr., Texas

Daniel Gibson, 6-2, Soph., Texas

Acie Law IV, 6-3, Jr., Texas A&M

HONORABLE MENTION

Baylor - Aaron Bruce.

Kansas - Mario Chalmers, Julian Wright.

Missouri - Jimmy McKinney.

Nebraska - Aleks Maric, Wes Wilkinson.

Oklahoma - Kevin Bookout, Michael Neal.

Oklahoma State - Mario Boggan, JamesOn Curry.

Texas Tech - Martin Zeno.

OTHER AWARDS

All-Defensive: Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson, Kansas; Taj Gray, Oklahoma; LaMarcus Aldridge and P.J. Tucker, Texas.

All-Rookie: Curtis Jerrells, Baylor; Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush and Julian Wright, Kansas; Michael Neal, Oklahoma.

Player of the Year: P.J. Tucker, Texas.

Defensive Player of the Year: LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas.

Newcomer of the Year: Michael Neal, Oklahoma.

Freshman of the Year: Brandon Rush, Kansas.

Coach of the Year: Bill Self, Kansas.