As you enter the grounds outside Allen Fieldhouse, there's no mistaking the tradition of college basketball and Kansas.
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On the North side, there's a bronze statue of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, and Kansas' first coach. On the East side of the Jayhawks' home arena is a statue of Phog Allen, the "father of basketball coaching," Kansas' second coach.
As hard as it may be to conceive, Kansas' current coach may go down as its best ever. If Bill Self can win two more games.
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Self was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September. It wasn't too long ago, however, Self was being dubbed a "regular-season" coach. Someone who was unable to win the big ones in March. He started his career in Kansas with two first round exits in his first three years. Things were a bit uneasy. Then Mario Chalmers happened.
That's how quick things can change.
There's no denying his resume.
14 straight Big 12 championships. Eight number one seeds in 15 years at Kansas. 447 wins. A career .825 winning percentage. AP Coach of the Year, twice. To be considered among the best, however, you have to win it all. Only 14 coaches have won multiple national championships.
Given Self's success, it can hard to reasonably argue why he has not won a second, or a third during his time. Self has coached 14 NBA first round picks, but it has been rare for that talent to equate to wins in the NCAA Tournament.
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This season may be his biggest feat.
This Jayhawk squad ranked as low as 14 in December and 13 in the middle of February. More than likely, no player from this team will be selected in the first round of this year's NBA Draft. It will be only the fourth time in 15 years that has happened in Kansas. Self has been able to transform a team that is probably his least talented, into an offensive juggernaut that is the fifth most offensively efficient team in the country.
If Self can pull it off, they'll have to start making the statue in Lawrence.
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