Brooks did not actually meet Self until three years later when both were living in Iba Hall, Oklahoma State?s athletic dormitory. Self played basketball, while Brooks threw the javelin for the track team.

?What I remember about Bill back then, everyone loved him,? said Brooks, the singer-songwriter, who remains friendly with Self.

?He was sweet to all the cooks. He was the dude on the basketball court, the leader, but he was always sweet to the little guy. When you get in a room full of athletes, you figure out who to stay away from and who to gravitate to.

?Bill was the one everyone gravitated to.?

Thirty-two years after that state championship game, Self, one of the most successful coaches in college basketball, is defined by the connections he has made throughout his life and career.

Whether at high school basketball games, summer camps or Subway restaurants, Self has a knack for forging lasting relationships based on fleeting instances.

That trait has helped him land jobs and recruits, and it is part of the reason that his Kansas Jayhawks have returned to the Round of 8 in the N.C.A.A. tournament.

The First Recruit

Jay Davis heard the ringing, but he wasn?t sure where it was coming from. Was it the after-effects of overindulging in a drink special at a bar near campus, or was it the telephone?

It was the telephone. Bill Self, Davis?s best friend, was on the other line. ?This is going to be out of the blue,? Self said, ?but you?re going to play for Oklahoma State next year.?

Davis and Self were teammates at Edmond High School. It had been three years since Davis had left Oral Roberts University after his freshman year; he had spent the past three years dominating Oklahoma State?s intramurals while playing for his fraternity?s team. ?Why would you say I would play?? Davis asked.

Self had spent the 1985-86 season as a graduate assistant at Kansas but had just left an interview with the new Oklahoma State coach, Leonard Hamilton. Self, then 23, promised Hamilton that if he was hired as a full-time assistant, he would deliver a starting point guard.

Davis agreed. In his first start against Baylor, Davis flirted with the first quadruple-double in Oklahoma State history: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists ? and 8 turnovers. The Cowboys finished 8-20, but Self had delivered his first recruit to Hamilton.

On Sunday, 25 years after that phone call to Davis, Self and Kansas will face Virginia Commonwealth, which defeated Hamilton?s Florida State team in overtime on Friday night, as the Jayhawks try to reach their second Final Four berth in four seasons.

?He?s got incredible charisma and a great work ethic,? said Davis, who has known Self since eighth grade.

?He has instincts about everything and his instincts are always right. He just has an uncanny ability to communicate with people, and he?s always been blessed. Throw it all together and he just has something most people don?t. He has a lot of things break his way because he?s there to gobble up the grounder.?

�The First Job

Perhaps Self?s biggest break came in 1984 when he worked at Larry Brown?s summer camp at Kansas. Self hurt his knee, prompting Brown to ask if there was anything he could do. Self responded, ?Give me a job.? A year later, Self drove to Lawrence, Kan., unannounced. Brown made Self a graduate assistant.

In the last 14 years, Self has coached at Tulsa (1997-2000), Illinois (2000-3) and Kansas (2003-present). During that time, his teams have made 13 consecutive N.C.A.A. tournaments, won 11 regular-season conference titles and advanced to the Round of 8 six times. Self has not always been that successful. There was his debut season at Oral Roberts in 1993.

The first time Earl McClellan saw Self was in a Subway restaurant. Prompted by his friends, McClellan approached Self and the assistant Barry Hinson about playing for Oral Roberts.

?You could cheat and you still couldn?t get anyone to come to Oral Roberts,? Hinson said. ?No one wanted to come here. We literally had to pray to get kids to come here. Earl said ?Yes, sir? 30 times in the span of 20 minutes and Coach thought he was such a nice kid so what the heck, we?ll let him walk on.?�

McClellan started four seasons for Self. The team went 6-23 the first season, including a 15-game losing streak to end the year. When McClellan was a senior, Oral Roberts went 21-7 and received a berth in the National Invitation Tournament.

?He was the person in my opinion that had the greatest transformation in my four years there,? said McClellan, now an executive pastor in Austin, Tex. �