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HOUSTON – Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self was named the 2015-16 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the NABC announced Tuesday.

Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, this is the first time Self has been named the organization’s coach of the year, which began naming the honor in 1959. Self will receive his award at the AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 3, at the Cullen Theater at Wortham Center in Houston at 6:30 p.m. (CDT).

“All that means is you had a group of kids that cared an awful lot and played to a ridiculously high level all year long” Self said of the honor. “Awards appear to be nice, but for me, a hundred times over, I would give any of that up to have those kids experience getting to play in Houston (at the Final Four).”

This is the third organization to name Self its 2015-16 national coach of the year as USA Today and Bleacher Report did the same earlier this month.

Under Self, No. 1 Kansas (33-5, 15-3) won its 12th-straight, 16th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 59th overall regular season title in 2015-16. Kansas also won the Big 12 Postseason Championship, the 2015 Maui Invitational in 2015-16 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for the sixth time in his 13 seasons at KU.

Kansas’ 33 wins marked the ninth time in school history the Jayhawks have won 33 or more games, including five seasons under Self. Its 12-straight conference titles rank second all-time in NCAA history trailing only UCLA’s 13-straight from 1967-79 under multiple coaches.

Kansas finished No. 1 in the 2015-16 Associated Press poll and holds that spot in the latest USA Today Coaches’ poll released March 14. KU was ranked No. 1 five times by AP and four times by the coaches in 2015-16. Kansas has been ranked seventh or higher in every poll this season.

The Jayhawks posted two winning streaks of 13 games or more in 2015-16: 13 from Nov. 23-Jan. 9, and 17 from Jan. 30-March 26. Additionally, Kansas went 12-4 against nationally-ranked teams in 2015-16, including 4-1 versus top-10 teams. The 12 wins against ranked foes are the most in a season in KU history.

Kansas holds the No. 1 RPI and No. 1 toughest schedule (through games of 3/27), while the Big 12 Conference has the No. 1 RPI among all leagues, in 2015-16.

In 13 seasons at Kansas, Self is 385-83 (82.3 percent) for an average of 29.6 wins per year. Overall, Self is 592-188 (76.0 percent) in 23 seasons as a head coach which has included stints at Oral Roberts (1994-97), Tulsa (1998-2000) and Illinois (2001-03) before coming to Kansas in 2004.

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