Nicole Auerbach

USA TODAY Sports

This year, perhaps more than any other, there have been a number of deserving candidates for this honor. But after careful deliberation, USA TODAY Sports has named Kansas coach Bill Self its National Coach of the Year for college basketball.

Consistently successful coaches sometimes get overlooked for these types of awards. But we're not taking for granted what Bill Self did this season. Not only did he lead the Jayhawks to their 12th consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship, but he did it in the nation's toughest conference — and won the league by two whole games. Not to mention that this season's Big 12 is one of the toughest conferences in recent years. So, that's no easy feat.

It's even tougher when you don't have first-round draft pick level talent.

"Our personnel is good, really good — I’m not going to apologize for our personnel," Self said last month. "But we’ve run some lottery picks out there in the past, and we’re not running them out there right now. It’s more of a really grind-it-out type of team effort.”

That's why this is likely Self's best coaching job yet, despite all those other league titles and the team that won it all in 2008. He has had to poke and prod and figure out lineups. He's found a winning formula even as he's limited minutes for highly touted freshmen Cheick Diallo and Carlton Bragg.

Self, who edged Xavier’s Chris Mack, Indiana’s Tom Crean, Oregon’s Dana Altman and Miami’s Jim Larranaga, has balanced it all and built a title contender in the process, the most complete team in the country heading into the NCAA tournament. It's not unusual that a Self-led team is peaking in March, but it is impressive that this particular one is playing at this high a level. For that, this honor goes to Self.

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