Longtime KU Jayhawks assistant hoops coach retires after 37 years on the bench
Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball assistant coach Norm Roberts is retiring after 37 years of coaching the sport, he announced on Monday.
Roberts is a member of the Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame. He coached 14 seasons at KU and was part of head coach Bill Self’s original staff for the 2003-04 season.
“I want to thank everybody at the University of Kansas and from everywhere I’ve been lucky enough to coach,” Roberts, 59, said in a news release. “I’ve been fortunate that I’ve never worked a day in my life. Being able to coach at Kansas and be part of this program has been unbelievable.
“After 37 years as a coach, it is time for me to move on, enjoy my family, spend more time with my wife (Pascale) and sons (Niko and Justin). The thing I’m going to remember most is the players and watching them grow, watching them succeed, and watching them fight through adversity and come back from that.”
Roberts first worked for Self at Oral Roberts. He then followed Self through coaching stints at Tulsa, Illinois, and Kansas.
He went on to coach St. John’s for six seasons and as an assistant coach for one season with Florida before returning to KU ahead of the 2012-13 season.
“This is a bittersweet moment for me because Norm and I have been together since 1995,” Self said. “Norm has played a key role to our success at all of the stops we have had together, especially here at Kansas. From recruiting to developing players to scouting and his knowledge of the game both on and off the court, Norm has been instrumental in what we have achieved. We won a lot of games together — many conference titles, deep NCAA Tournament runs, Final Fours and a national championship. We’ve had some unbelievable memories that will last our lifetimes.
Self added, “We should all be happy for Norm to go enjoy life with Pascale and his boys. Norm has done as good of a job as anyone in representing the University of Kansas, the athletic department and our basketball program in a first-class manner.”
Roberts had an illustrious career and helped Kansas win multiple titles. The Jayhawks won seven Big 12 regular-season titles and three Big 12 Tournament championships. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 five times and the Elite Eight four times and captured the 2022 NCAA National Championship.
During Roberts’ time in Lawrence, some 60 KU players were named to All-Big 12 teams. Roberts also assisted Self in recruiting and coaching seven NBA Lottery selections: Josh Jackson, Andrew Wiggins, Ben McLemore, Joel Embiid, Kelly Oubre Jr., Ochai Agbaji and Gradey Dick.
Before embarking on his coaching career, Roberts played at Queens College in New York. That’s also where he was hired for his first job in coaching.
But Roberts will never forget his tenure in Lawrence.
“It’s the people that make Kansas basketball special — the fans, the coaches, the players, the administration,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to have 14 unbelievable years here. I want to thank everybody for everything they’ve done for me and my family, and I will forever be a Jayhawk.”
