March Madness is officially underway and I’m sure you have your brackets in by now. The Kansas Jayhawks, coached by Bill Self, are the top-ranked team in their region and a likely choice to once again make the Final Four.
Kansas Jayhawks Head Coach Bill Self
This is nothing new for the team or Coach Self. He has been the head basketball coach at Kansas since 2003. In his 20 years leading the team, Coach Self has won 577 games, made four Final Four appearances, and won two national championships. In 2017, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Coach Self is currently the 18th-winningest Division I head coach of all-time and climbing the charts.
Coach Self was profiled by writer Brian Hamilton in today’s The Athletic in an article entitled “Why Kansas’ Bill Self is the best big-game coach in the NCAA Tournament.” In it, more than thirty Division I coaches were asked anonymously whom they would choose to coach a team in a single big-time game. Self was the top choice.
11 Reasons Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self is the Best Big Game Coach in College Basketball
For anyone wanting to lead at an elite level, the lessons learned from the article and the following comments by the coaches surveyed are critical to achieving your maximum potential as a leader.
- Big Game Coaches Do Many Things Well – “Honestly, I don’t think there’s anybody better than Self right now. I really don’t… Best in our game right now. Not even close. Recruiting, coaching, Xs and Os, getting teams better. It ain’t close.”
- Big Game Coaches Are Great Strategists – “I think the dude is borderline genius at Xs and Os.”
- Big Game Coaches Get The Most Out Of Their Players – “(Self) gets the most out of his players.”
- Big Game Coaches Have Courageous Conversations – “He’s not afraid to coach his best player hard, and he plays the guys who give his team the best chance to win.”
- Big Game Coaches Build Team Chemistry – “Understands how important chemistry is.”
- Big Game Coaches Give Their Teams Confidence – “His teams play with confidence and they play to win, not to lose. His teams are never afraid of the moment and they don’t shrink under pressure.”
- Big Game Coaches Sense And Seize Momentum – “He’ll beat you from tip to finish and can work the game and change momentum when it’s not going his way.”
- Big Game Coaches Make Adjustments – “He’s played different ways — two bigs, one big, no bigs — and been successful. That tells me he’s comfortable adjusting. A lot of guys at a high level could not do this, in my opinion. They’re used to having the best talent and playing their system. He’s willing to do something on a one-shot deal that might not be their norm or strength and gets his team to do it well.”
- Big Game Coaches Develop Talent – “He’s won with good talent, but not all McDonald’s All-Americans. He develops guys.”
- Big Game Coaches Are Elite Communicators – “That tells me he can communicate and get guys to buy in.”
- Big Game Coaches Are Elite Teachers – “Out of timeouts, what the dude runs, and what they get? Zone offense — the lob plays that sucker has? I mean, it’s impressive, man.”
Hamilton concluded by writing, “There’s not one thing he does well, in the minds of his peers; he’s elite at all of it. The game plans. The adjustments. The relationships with players. The recruiting. The work he does on officials, to tilt games in Kansas’ favor.”
Take a guess who I have winning my bracket? That’s right, the Kansas Jayhawks and Coach Bill Self.
Coach Self is one of the leaders profiled in my latest book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress which is available for purchase. Production. Passion. Resilience. Teamwork. Contentment. Courage. Faith. These seven skills were embodied over three thousand years ago by a group of elite warriors known as David’s Mighty Men. These highly-capable individuals helped take David, the man who had previously defeated Goliath, from a wilderness experience to leading a nation. Did 2020 feel like a wilderness experience for you? So many people lost loved ones, opportunities, financial resources, careers, time, and much, much more during COVID. The worst thing many people lost was hope. COVID stripped away the non-essentials in our lives. It revealed how foolish pride, ego, and narcissism are. It made us question almost everything in our lives, including God himself. COVID brought us all to our knees in one form or fashion. I want you to know the same skills used by David’s’ Mighty Men still work today. In my new book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress, I show you how applying these skills can help you become Mighty and move from the Pandemic to Progress. Click HERE or on the image provided to order!