No. 1 Kansas defeated Michigan State, 77-69, in the first game of the Champions Classic — and coach Bill Self took his place atop the coaching rankings in program history.
With the win, Self passed Dr. Forrest “Phog” Allen for most wins at Kansas.
Self tied Allen on Friday as the Jayhawks beat North Carolina, 92-89, at Allen Fieldhouse. That made him 590-143 in his 22nd season at Kansas.
With Tuesday’s win he is now 591-143 at KU and 808-243 overall, with previous stops at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois before he took over the Jayhawks in 2003, succeeding Roy Williams.
He had led the Jayhawks to a pair of national titles in 2008 and 2022, along with two other Final Four appearances in 2012 and 2018.
Center Hunter Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 28 points and 12 rebounds as Kansas pulled away late in the contest. Guard Dajuan Harris Jr. scored 11 points and had six assists, while Guard Rylen Griffin added 10 points.
Zeke Mayo led the Jayhawks with seven assists, while he added 10 rebounds and six points.
Self is just the eighth coach in Kansas history. Allen succeeded the program’s original coach, James A. Naismith, who created the game and led the KU program from 1898-1907.
Allen took over and led the program for two seasons (1907-09), left to coach at Warrensburg and then returned to lead the Jayhawks from 1919-56.
Considered by many to be the “father of baseball coaching,” he founded the National Association of Basketball Coaches, helped create the NCAA Tournament and won three national titles (two through the Helms selection process and the 1952 NCAA title).
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
The other Kansas coaches in program history are William O. Hamilton (1909-19), Dick Harp (1956-64), Td Owens (1964-83) and Larry Brown (1983-88). Williams succeeded Brown after he led to take over the San Antonio Spurs.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
