He mulled retirement, but Bill Self won’t be ending his college coaching career just yet. 

Self announced he will be returning to the Kansas Jayhawks’ sideline for the 2026-27 season.

“With renewed clarity and the ongoing support from our administration, I remain focused and committed to Kansas basketball competing for a national championship,” Self’s statement said. 

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“I look forward to seeing and hearing the best fans in college basketball next season at Allen Fieldhouse.”

Self made the decision after consulting with his family, especially considering his health issues in recent seasons. 

UCONN MEN’S BASKETBALL HOPING FOR CHAMPIONSHIP TRANSFER MAGIC ONCE AGAIN

Self has dealt with chest tightness and balance concerns, which resulted in a hospitalization in 2013, forcing him to miss the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. He had two stents placed for treatment of blocked arteries. 

In July 2025, Self was admitted to a hospital after feeling ill. He was reportedly experiencing “concerning symptoms,” leading to another surgery to have stents inserted. He was later released from a hospital and coached the Jayhawks this year. 

Self did miss a game in January against Colorado, when he was taken to a hospital as a precaution, the school noted at the time. 

Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks watches his team play against the Houston Cougars in the second half during the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center March 13, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

The Jayhawks fell to St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament, which led reporters to naturally wonder what Self had in mind about his future. 

“I’ll get back and visit with the family,” Self said, via ESPN. “I’ve had, obviously, some issues off the court health-wise. And that will be discussed. But I love what I do. I want to feel good while I’m doing it, though.”

Self has been a college basketball head coach since the 1993-94 season, starting his tenure with Oral Roberts. After stops at Tulsa and Illinois, Self joined Kansas for the 2003-04 season, and he hasn’t left since. 

Self has won two national championships in his 23 seasons with the Jayhawks, his most recent coming in 2022. Kansas has also reached the Final Four four times under his leadership. 

Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts as the team plays California Baptist during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Tournament March 20, 2026, in San Diego.  (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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In 815 games, Self owns a 648-167 record with Kansas. He also has 855 wins as a head coach in his 33-year career, which includes 27 NCAA Tournament appearances. 

With the NCAA transfer portal opening April 7, Self will be right back to work building another Kansas roster he hopes to get deeper in March Madness next season. 

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The four teams left standing were all viewed as fringe men’s national title contenders before the season — but only if everything came together. There were no guarantees. Only UConn was ranked in the top four of the AP preseason poll. Michigan was seventh, Arizona 13th and Illinois 17th.

Yet, they’re all on their way to Indianapolis because they proved they were the best in a particular category during their NCAA tournament runs.

If this were an awards show, Arizona would win the honor of most balanced team. The Wildcats are top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency. In Saturday’s Elite Eight win over Purdue, eight Wildcats scored.

Michigan would win the award for best defense. Led by a frontcourt featuring three 6-foot-9 standouts and a 7-3 center, the Wolverines are first in adjusted defensive efficiency. In Sunday’s Elite Eight win over Tennessee, they outscored the Vols by 23 points in the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Illinois would take the best offensive engine award. The Illini have been No. 1 in adjusted offensive efficiency for the bulk of the season. They’ve made 59% of their shots inside the arc since March 1.

Connecticut would earn the best coach honor. At one point in the first half of Illinois’ Elite Eight win over Duke on Sunday, Dan Hurley’s Huskies had missed 13 of 15 shots. Yet, they clawed back in the second, giving Hurley a chance to make history as the first coach since John Wooden to win three national titles in four years.

Every team that reached the final weekend of the season had to fight to get there. There is no debate about that. They’re all deserving of this shot at history.

All times Eastern

1. Michigan Wolverines
Original seed: No. 1 (Midwest)
Tournament results: Def. No. 16 Howard 101-80 (first round); def. No. 9 Saint Louis 95-72 (round of 32); def. No. 4 Alabama 90-77 (Sweet 16); def. No. 6 Tennessee 95-62 (Elite Eight)

The Wolverines believe they can be the best team in program history, but they’ll have to win Saturday against Arizona to have an argument, because they have some serious competition:

• At the top of the list is the 1988-89 team that won the school’s only national championship. That group was led by future NBA all-star Glen Rice.

• Then there’s the 1964-65 team, which lost in the national title game. That team had Cazzie Russell, widely viewed as the greatest player in school history.

• The 1975-76 squad had All-American Rickey Green and three other future NBA players when it lost in the national title game.

• And, of course, there are the Fab Five teams that reached the national championship games in 1992 and 1993. Those two groups had three future NBA standouts — Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose — leading the way.

• Trey Burke was the national player of the year when he led Michigan to the national title game in 2013.

But this 2026 group has Yaxel Lendeborg, who finished with 27 points and seven rebounds in Sunday’s Elite Eight win over Tennessee and is one of three NBA prospects on the roster. These Wolverines have the talent to win it all.

Dusty May might also be putting together the greatest coaching effort in school history. Those other iconic Michigan teams had the luxury of time to build those rosters. May didn’t even know, last March, who would be playing for him this season — four of his starters were at other schools at the time. But in less than a year, his team is in the Final Four. So, yes, this team is making a case to be one of the greatest Michigan teams, and May, who’s also in the Final Four for the second time in four years after leading Florida Atlantic there in 2023, could one day be considered one of Michigan’s greatest coaches.

Up next: vs. Arizona (Saturday, following Illinois-UConn, TBS/truTV/HBO Max)

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Brayden Burries’ hustle play punctuates Arizona’s Elite Eight win

Brayden Burries dives on the floor and gets the ball to Ivan Kharchenkov for a layup to help send the Wildcats to the Final Four.

2. Arizona Wildcats
Original seed: No. 1 (West)
Tournament results: Def. No. 16 Long Island 92-58 (first round); def. No. 9 Utah State 78-66 (round of 32); def. No. 4 Arkansas 109-88 (Sweet 16); def. No. 2 Purdue 79-64 (Elite Eight)

It might be best to discuss Arizona’s dominance under coach Tommy Lloyd, whose performance this season won’t quiet the North Carolina coaching rumors, by looking at what he left behind at Gonzaga..

Lloyd was Mark Few’s top assistant when the Zags went to the Final Four in 2021. They had not only turned Gonzaga into a respected powerhouse but had made the Bulldogs the West Coast’s preeminent program. Lloyd has now snatched that title from his former mentor, with these Wildcats.

Over the past five years, Few has won 143 games. In that same span, Arizona has won 148 — and counting — under Lloyd.

How has he done it? It hasn’t been with 3-point shooting: Only 26.4% of the team’s field goal attempts this season have been from deep — 363rd out of 365 teams. Lloyd is old-school. He has assembled a team that’s full of talent, including projected first-round draft picks Motiejus Krivas, Brayden Burries and Koa Peat. He has the Big 12 Player of the Year, Jaden Bradley. He also has a supporting cast no other team remaining in this tournament can match.

Lloyd’s philosophy is simple. The Wildcats play great defense. They entered Sunday ranked first in adjusted defensive efficiency, and they dare opponents to outhustle them. Lloyd believes his top eight guys are better than the top eight players of any opponent, no matter the style they play. That’s how he believes his team can win. And so far, he has been right.

Up next: vs. Michigan (Saturday, following Illinois-UConn, TBS/truTV/HBO Max)

3. UConn Huskies
Original seed: No. 2 (East)
Tournament results: Def. No. 15 Furman 82-71 (first round); def. No. 7 UCLA 73-57 (round of 32); def. No. 3 Michigan State 67-63 (Sweet 16); def. No. 1 Duke 73-72 (Elite Eight)

Huskies coach Dan Hurley might build a statue of Alex Karaban — who hit a 3-pointer that cut UConn’s lead to one, then made the assist to Braylon Mullins on the winning 3 in Sunday’s Elite Eight victory over Duke — if the school doesn’t do it. Karaban guarded Cameron Boozer throughout Sunday’s game, and Tarris Reed Jr. dominated in the paint as a Huskies squad that was down as many as 19 points came back in the last seconds.

It’s no secret that Hurley doesn’t have a roster that can match the talent of the other teams in the field. Michigan has three projected first-round picks, and they’re all giants. Arizona has more depth than anyone and also three projected first-round picks. Illinois’ smallest starter is 6-2 Kylan Boswell, while 6-5 guard Keaton Wagler might be the best remaining player in the field.

Although Hurley turned to the transfer portal the past two years to build his rosters, he has a continuity that’s rare at this stage. Three Huskies starters have played at least two years in Hurley’s system. Illinois is the only other team in the Final Four that can make the same claim. The difference is that no other team in Indianapolis has a player with Karaban’s experience of winning at the highest level (he’s a holdover from the UConn squads that won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024). Against Duke on Sunday, the Huskies might not have been the more talented group, but their experience gave them an edge against a squad full of freshmen that seemed to crumble when it squandered a big lead.

Karaban, who averaged 22 points in his first three NCAA tournament games, wasn’t great in the Elite Eight. But he didn’t have to be. His contribution was the calm that comes from playing in a bunch of games like this one. In Indianapolis, he’ll be in a league of his own.

Up next: vs. Illinois (Saturday, 6:09 p.m., TBS/truTV/HBO Max)

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Andrej Stojakovic’s late and-1 helps send Illinois to Final Four

Andrej Stojakovic drives to the paint and scores the and-1 bucket as Illinois beats Iowa to reach its first Final Four in 21 years.

4. Illinois Fighting Illini
Original seed: No. 3 (South)
Tournament results: Def. No. 14 Penn 105-70 (first round); def. No. 11 VCU 76-55 (round of 32); def. No. 2 Houston 65-55 (Sweet 16); def. No. 9 Iowa 71-59 (Elite Eight)

Illinois coach Brad Underwood’s roster features players from five different countries: Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece and the United States. The international flavor has been all the buzz this season, along with Underwood’s discovery of freshman Keaton Wagler, who didn’t get a scholarship offer from his home-state school Kansas but is now pushing for a top-10 spot in the 2026 NBA draft after a surprising season. Tomislav Ivisic is a 7-foot-1 force in the paint. Andrej Stojakovic is a two-way threat who helped corral Iowa star Bennett Stirtz in Saturday’s Elite Eight win. David Mirkovic is a 6-9 forward who shot 40% from 3 in league play.

You’d think Underwood’s success with international players would encourage the notion that any coach can go to Europe and recruit elite talent. Right?

Wrong. Coaches can’t just walk into a gym in Europe full of elite players and recruit them. Mining the international landscape for talent is laborious. And it’s only half the battle because Underwood’s real strength isn’t his knack for identifying international stars. Rather, it’s his ability to know where those players fit in his system. He has built a group that has possessed the best offense in America for most of this season and has also played top-25 defense for the past month. Illinois’ wins over Houston and Iowa in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament were a byproduct of the size the Illini use to protect the rim, as well as the pressure they have applied to opposing backcourts.

Illinois is a selfless team full of players who fulfill their roles and were put in the right positions by Underwood. He knows himself, and he knows his system. Above all, he knows which players he needs for it to all work.

Up next: vs. UConn (Saturday, 6:09 p.m., TBS/truTV/HBO Max)

After two high-profile cases in basketball this season, the NCAA Division I Cabinet will consider proposed changes to eligibility rules, including one that would bar athletes who have entered and remained in a professional sports draft from competing in college.

The Academics and Eligibility Committee proposed the changes Wednesday, and the cabinet could take action within weeks. The new rules, if approved, would be effective for athletes entering college this fall.

“These proposed changes reflect ongoing work by Division I members to modernize our rules to align with the current era of college sports,” said Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, chair of the cabinet. “As Division I members proceed with reviewing all eligibility rules in the months ahead, our focus will be establishing rules that have objective criteria that can be consistently applied for both prospects and current student-athletes.”

One of the proposals would require prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts, including the NBA draft, to bring pre-college enrollment draft rules in line with post-college enrollment draft rules. Men’s ice hockey and baseball would not be affected because athletes don’t opt in to those sports’ drafts.

The proposal comes after two basketball players, Alabama’s Charles Bediako and Baylor’s James Nnaji, played in college this season after entering the 2023 NBA draft.

Bediako played two seasons at Alabama and entered the draft. He wasn’t selected but played three years in the G League, the NBA’s minor league. He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA after it denied Alabama’s request to allow him to return to collegiate competition this season.

Bediako’s lawyers argued that he remains within his five-year college eligibility window, an NCAA rule that is the subject of multiple other lawsuits. A judge, who later recused himself from the case, issued a temporary restraining order that allowed Bediako to play while the case moved forward. He played in five games before another judge lifted the order in a decision upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court.

Nnaji, from Nigeria, was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the draft. He played professionally overseas before he enrolled as a freshman at Baylor in December. He was granted eligibility because he had never signed an NBA contract or played in the G League.

The Academics and Eligibility Committee also proposed that prospects be allowed to sign with agents prior to enrolling in college. Under current NCAA rules, prospects are permitted to sign with agents only for name, image and likeness purposes, with exceptions for baseball and hockey players who can enter agreements with agents if they are drafted.

The committee also proposed that athletes be allowed to accept prize money in their respective sports without impacting eligibility. Currently, prospects can accept prize money only up to actual and necessary expenses, except in tennis, which permits up to $10,000 in prize money.