Coach Bill Self has been the epitome of success for Kansas since he was appointed the head coach of the university’s men’s basketball program in 2003. He just concluded his 22nd season at KU, becoming the school’s winningest coach and eclipsing a career 800 wins in 32 seasons as a head coach.
But behind every milestone of Self, there has been one constant by his side all the while. Her name is Cindy Self, Bill Self’s wife, who has been his pillar of support for nearly four decades.
Bill and Cindy first met at Oklahoma State University in the mid-1980s, when Bill was a basketball player, and Cindy was a cheerleader. They dated for four years before tying the knot in 1988. Cindy was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Yukon, Oklahoma. She earned her master’s degree in elementary education from Central State University while Bill pursued business and later athletic administration. From the very start, she was building a life alongside a man who would one day become a Hall of Fame coach.
Bill has been open about how Cindy means to the Kansas program. He called her a constant presence in the lives of his players, many of whom get homesick and find comfort in her. At his 2017 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction, Self said,
“If there was such a thing as a perfect coach’s wife, Cindy would be her. She is unselfish of my time, she is independent but always there to focus on the team and our family.”
More On Bill Self’s Family and Charitable Work
Bill and Cindy have two children together: a daughter, Lauren, and son, Tyler. Lauren graduated from Kansas in 2013 and is married to Hayden Browning. Their son Tyler, played on the KU basketball team from 2013 to 2017 and went on to become the GM of the Austin Spurs team in the NBA G League. Bill is also a grandfather and described it as everything he thought it would be and more. He says there is nothing quite like watching your daughter become a mother.
In June 2006, Bill and Cindy established the ASSISTS Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization designed to serve as a fundraising conduit for groups that serve youth across a variety of causes. Cindy has also been personally involved in charity work, volunteering with organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Lawrence Foundation.
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