Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
NEW YORK, N.Y. – University of Kansas head men’s basketball coach Bill Self and University of South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, the winning coaches of the 2022 NCAA Division I basketball championships, received the Winged Foot Award at a gala banquet at the New York Athletic Club on Tuesday evening.
This was the second time Self has received the Winged Foot Award. In 2008, he was honored with it along with then-Tennessee head coach Pat Summit. The 2022 Winged Foot Award was Staley’s second as well.
The 2022 national champion Jayhawks went 34-6, tied for the Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-4 record, won the Big 12 Tournament, advanced to KU’s 16th Final Four and won Kansas’ sixth national title, fourth in NCAA history. KU won its final 11 games of the 2021-22 season.
“This was basically the perfect team. We struggled to win the last two games to win the league and won a Big 12 Tournament to decide who the best team is (in the Big 12). That was a team that things just fell perfect. We can say this team was destined to win the national championship because there were so many things about it, it was so special.” -BILL SELF
Kansas men’s basketball staff joined Self for the two-day celebration of the Winged Foot Award. Located adjacent to Central Park in New York City, the New York Athletic Club hosted a welcome reception for both programs on the roof of the building overseeing the city. The following morning, Self visited ESPN studios at Pier 17 and did a radio segment on the Keyshawn, JWill and Max morning show.
KU assistant coach Norm Roberts introduced Self, while long-time CBS broadcaster Billy Packer was the banquet’s emcee. Packer’s final game called for CBS was the 2008 Final Four, where Kansas won the title against Memphis.
The Winged Foot Award is among the most prestigious in the world of collegiate basketball and honors the winning coaches of the men’s and women’s NCAA National Basketball Championship. The 2022 marked the 26th annual presentation of the Winged Foot Award at the NYAC’s Manhattan headquarters. The New York Athletic Club recognizes that the coaches are the players’ guides both on and off the court during a time when good role models are most important. The New York Athletic Club takes great pride in recognizing and commending the people who make such a difference in the lives of student athletes.
While at Kansas, Self has won two national championships, 16 regular-season Big 12 Conference titles, including a KU, Big 12 and NCAA-record 14-straight titles from 2005-18, and nine league tournament titles. He is 556-124, for an 81.8 winning percentage, in his 19 seasons Kansas and 763-229 (76.9%) in 29 seasons overall. At Kansas, Self has won as many regular-season league titles (16) as he has home losses (16) in Allen Fieldhouse.