Bill Self has had a tumultuous 2023. A year after winning the men's basketball national championship with the Kansas Jayhawks, Self had once again led the Jayhawks to another Big 12 regular season title. However, a health injury removed him from the sidelines before the Big 12 Tournament, and the Jayhawks ultimately lost in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. During the offseason, the FBI ended a six-year investigation around recruiting violations, negating some of Kansas's wins and its Final Four appearance from the 2017-18 season.
But Self has also had some good moments this year. Hunter Dickinson, regarded as the top offseason transfer, moved from Michigan to the Jayhawks. And Kansas reworked Self's lifetime contract to make him the highest-paid coach in college basketball.
Just how much will Self make from his new deal?
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The 60-year-old Self will earn more than $13 million during this season and $53 million across the next five years. That total includes $7.2 million in deferred salary from COVID-19 economic hardships. Self takes the highest-paid title away from Kentucky's John Calipari, who will make $44 million in the next five seasons.
Self has been a model of consistency since joining the Jayhawks in 2003. Aside from the canceled 2020 tournament, the team has reached the NCAA Tournament in every season under his watch. He's won 13 straight Big 12 championships and two national titles and is on pace to surpass 800 career wins this season.
Kansas offered him a lifetime contract in April of 2021. That deal, starting at five years, was worth at least $5.41 million per year, with an extra year added at the end of every season. The contract's language also prevented the school from firing Self for cause due to any infractions from before the deal was signed.
This new deal gives Self quite the raise. Channeling his inner The Wizard of Oz, he said, "There's no place like Kansas."
Notably, Dorothy and the Tin Man weren't making nearly as much money.
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