Even though Jacque Vaughn filled in for HCBS tonight, the win in Boulder counts as a W for Self, now 830-266 (.757) for his total 32+ year career.
With tonight's win,
Self has tied former Mount St. Mary's coach Jim Phelan for 12th place on the All Time Winningest Head Coaches list for D-1 Men's Basketball.
A win in Manhattan on Saturday will tie Self with Cliff Ellis (who coached at S. Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and Coastal Carolina) for 11th place on the list.
After Ellis, next up is Rick Barnes in 10th place, 18 wins ahead of HCBS (848) and former KANSAS assistant coach John Calipari in 9th place, 19 wins ahead of HCBS with 849 wins.
Barring complete collapses by Tennessee and Arkansas, Self will not catch up with either of them for this academic year or next.
KANSAS alumnus Adolph Rupp is 8th with 876 wins, 46 ahead of Self.
KANSAS alumnus Dean "The Traitor" Smith is 7th with 879 wins, 49 ahead.
Given this scenario, assuming Self's health holds and he continues to coach for at least two more years, it will take him at least that long to catch and pass both Rupp and Smith. And at least another season to pass both Bob Knight (902 career wins) and former KANSAS coach Roy Williams (903 career wins). (And should he ever catch up with Roy he will need just another 4 wins to earn his 700th win at KANSAS.)
And whether Self can pass Barnes (age 71) and/or Calipari (66) will depend heavily on how much longer those two continue to coach.
Fingers crossed for Bill's good health and the good fortune of our KANSAS Jayhawks!
