KU basketball to add Washington’s Tony Bland as assistant coach, Bill Self confirms
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- Kansas plans to hire Tony Bland from Washington as assistant basketball coach.
- Bland previously served at USC and faced NCAA sanctions ending in April 2024.
- Coach Bill Self confirmed Bland replaces Chase Buford, pending final paperwork.
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self has filled the team’s assistant coach opening with Tony Bland, an assistant coach on Danny Sprinkle’s staff at Washington last season.
KU coach Bill Self confirmed to The Star that Bland would be replacing Chase Buford on KU’s coaching staff. However, the hiring is not official until paperwork is complete, Self stated in a text message.
Bland served as associate head coach at USC from 2013 to 2017 under Andy Enfield when he became part of the FBI investigation into college basketball.
Bland, according to the Associated Press, “was one of 10 total individuals who were arrested as part of the probe. As part of his plea deal with federal prosecutors, Bland acknowledged accepting a $4,100 bribe during a July 2017 meeting with financial advisers and business managers in exchange for directing players to retain their services when they entered the pro ranks. He received two years’ probation. Bland also received a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA that expired in April of 2024.”
Prior to joining the staff at Washington, Bland was head coach at St. Bernard High School in Los Angeles.
A native of Los Angeles, Bland played at Syracuse and San Diego State and later served as an assistant coach for San Diego State until 2013.
Self has not issued a comment on the hiring except to confirm he will be joining a staff that includes Kurtis Townsend, Jeremy Case, Jacque Vaughn, Joe Dooley, Brennan Bechard, Doc Sadler and Lexi Price.
