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Kansas Hires Former Program Star and Ex-NBA Coach As Assistant
Three decades ago, Jacque Vaughn took the basketball world by storm during a prolific career with Kansas. Now, he's reportedly headed back to where it all began.
The Jayhawks are hiring Vaughn as an assistant coach on Bill Self's staff, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from Pete Thamel of ESPN. Vaughn, 50, most recently served as coach of the Brooklyn Nets from 2023 to '24.
As a player, Vaughn raked in awards with Kansas—making two All-America teams and three All-Conference teams. His 642 assists in the conference ranked fifth in Big Eight history—a remarkable feat as he spent only three years in the league.
Sources: Kansas is set to hire former star player and two-time NBA coach Jacque Vaughn as an assistant basketball coach, per me and @jeffborzello. Vaughn has spent more than five years as an NBA head coach in Orlando and Brooklyn, coaching 355 games. pic.twitter.com/MUx4YyOenl
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 21, 2025
That reputation as a distributor followed Vaughn into the NBA, where he played 12 years for five teams—most notably the Utah Jazz in the twilight of their glory years. Turning to coaching, he led the Orlando Magic and Nets for parts of three years apiece.
The Jayhawks are coming off a 21–13 season, their worst by winning percentage since 1989.
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Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .