Self named Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist

By Matt Tait Mar 3, 2017

Nick Krug

Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) raises up six fingers next to Kansas head coach Bill Self as he watches a compilation video of his former players congratulating him on his 600th win, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

With his top player in the running for multiple national player of the year honors, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has joined him.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club on Friday morning announced that Self, now in his 14th season at KU, had been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2017 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year honor.

Frank Mason III, along with Josh Jackson, also was recently named a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award.

Self won the coaching award in 2012 and has been a finalist seven times.

The veteran KU coach’s fate will be decided from March 3-13, when a national voting academy submits ballots to narrow the list down to four finalists, which will be revealed on March 16 on Twitter at @Naismithtrophy.

From there, the final round of voting will run from March 20-30. Fans have a say in the overall voting process. From 9 a.m. central time on March 20 through 10:59 p.m. central on March 31 fans can cast their ballot at naismithtrophy.com/vote.

One vote per person per category per day.

The fan vote will account for 5 percent of the total vote. The awarding of the 2017 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year award will be at the Naismith Awards annual Final Four Awards Brunch on Sunday, April 2 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

2017 Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Semifinalists

Chris Collins, Northwestern

Scott Drew, Baylor

Mark Few, Gonzaga

Bob Huggins, West Virgnia

Tim Jankovich, SMU

Sean Miller, Arizona

Rick Pitino, Louisville

Bill Self, Kansas

Mike White, Florida

Jay Wright, Villanova

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.