Bill Eugene Self Jr. was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where his father was the girls' basketball coach at nearby Morris High School.

Between 1986 and 1993, Self was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State University under Leonard Hamilton, followed by Eddie Sutton.

[8] After rebuilding the Golden Eagles, Self was hired by crosstown rival Tulsa and spent three seasons (1998 to 2000) there, compiling a Tulsa-best 74–27 record.

He took over for Roy Williams who left for his former team, North Carolina, after KU lost the 2003 National Championship game to Syracuse.

In his first season at Kansas, Self led the Jayhawks to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to Georgia Tech.

In August 2008, Self signed a new 10-year contract guaranteeing him $3 million annually, making him the second-highest-paid coach in college basketball at the time, following Florida's Billy Donovan.

[11] In the 2010–11 season, Self led the Jayhawks past North Carolina to end the season at number 2 on the all-time wins list, trailing leader Kentucky by 14 games (List of teams with the most victories in NCAA Division I men's college basketball).

The Jayhawks entered the 2012 NCAA tournament as a #2-seed in the Midwest Regional and ultimately lost in the championship game to Kentucky 67–59.

[13] On February 18, 2017, Self was announced as one of 14 finalists named from over 100 candidates to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Self's individual punishments could include a suspension[15] or an effective ban from college basketball for several years or more (a "show cause" penalty against any program looking to hire Self).

[16] Self has denied throughout the investigation that the Kansas coaching staff knew Adidas was paying recruits to go there.

By winning the title, combined with the retirements of Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright at the end of the season, Self moved into a tie with Rick Pitino as the only active coaches with two national championships.

[19] Just before the start of the Big 12 Tournament, Self endured a health issue and was unable to coach the Jayhawks for the postseason.

His son, Tyler, played basketball at Kansas from 2012 to 2017[6] and was the general manager for the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League until 2022.