Kansas Jayhawks: Remembering Big 12 Titles From Bill Self Era

Kansas Jayhawks guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1), forward Perry Ellis (34) and guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12)  Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

2010-2011 Season

At the conclusion of the previous season, KU would lose several important players. First, Sherron Collins finished his senior year at KU and graduated. Next, we saw Cole Aldrich forgo his senior year and declare for he NBA draft. Xavier Henry also declared for the NBA draft.

In addition to those key players, C.J. Henry transferred to another school to play basketball and Chase Buford decided to not return to focus on academics.

The start of the season saw Self recruiting point guard Josh Selby, shooting guard Royce Woolridge,

Selby, as most of us KU fans know, was a very talented freshman. I still feel that he should have stayed with Bill Self for an additional year. That way he would have been the unanimous number one pick. But, I digress.

According to RealGM, the starting five in this season consisted of the Morris twins, Tyshawn Taylor, Brady Morningstar, and Tyrel Reed. Reed was a fun player to watch because he would always find room in the corner behind the arc and just drain it.

The Jayhawks would begin the season ranked as the seventh best team in the nation. Intrastate rivals, Kansas State, boasted a ranking of third. This ranking wouldn’t phase the Jayhawks, though.

The Morris twins came alive and showed that they were a force to be reckoned with in the paint. Both posting double-digit points per game for the season.

Coming out of the gate, the Jayhawks would win their first 18 games. This streak was broken when they would lose to the visiting Texas Longhorns, thus breaking KU’s 69-game home winning streak. I feel this win should have an asterisk.

The night before the Texas game, KU forward Thomas Robinson had received word that his mother had passed away and there was nobody to take care of his little sister, Jayla. Everybody on the team, coaches included, stayed up with Robinson all night to make sure he was okay.

Eventually, KU did reach the top of the rankings. Unfortunately, they lost it fairly quickly when they lost to K-State in Bramlage. I can still remember Jacob Pullen and his awful-looking beard.

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At the end of the regular season, the Jayhawks accumulated a conference record of 14-2. This was good enough to once again win the Big 12 championship, making it their seventh straight.

The Jayhawks would also go on to win the Big 12 tournament, defeating the Longhorns in the finals 85-73.

With their success in the Big 12 tournament, the Jayhawks were given a 1 seed for their bracket. In their first three games, it seemed KU was on the war path. They won their games by an average margin of 17 points.

In the Elite Eight, KU faced VCU. I’m not sure what magic happened in this game but it just seemed that Jamie Skeen and company could not miss from the three-point arc. At halftime, it was 41-27 VCU.

KU would battle back and make the lead just two points, but they were unable to finish the Rams off. They would lose to VCU 71-61.

Bill Self’s Jayhawks finished with a record of 35-3 and a seventh consecutive Big 12 championship.

Marcus Morris was named Second Team All-American by the Associated Press.

Next: So Close, Yet So Far Away