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Inside The Huskies

Sprinkle Reportedly Loses UW Assistant Coach to Kansas

Tony Bland spent one season in Montlake re-establishing his basketball reputation.
Dan Raley|
Tony Bland, far right, has left the UW for a new coaching job at Kansas.
Tony Bland, far right, has left the UW for a new coaching job at Kansas. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Tony Bland, having restored his basketball coaching reputation with a year on Danny Sprinkle's University of Washington staff, reportedly has been hired by Kansas as an assistant, according to multiple news outlets.

Bland, 45, came to the UW last year after serving a three-year coaching ban administered by the NCAA, known as a show-cause penalty, after it was determined he was involved in a fraud scandal while working for USC that stretched nationwide.

At the UW, he kept a low profile publicly, but was regarded as an accomplished recruiter and someone who deserves some of the credit for rebuilding the Husky roster this past offseason with so many touted players from the transfer portal and high school ranks.

Tony Bland stands behind Danny Sprinkle during this UW timeout during the past season.
Tony Bland stands behind Danny Sprinkle during this UW timeout during the past season. | Skylar Lin Visuals

In 2017, Bland was one of 10 people arrested and charged across college basketball for allegedly steering payments from sports agents or others to families of players.

A former San Diego State and Syracuse player himself, Bland reportedly avoided prison time by pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and accepted two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Sprinkle hired him as soon as his coaching ban was lifted in 2024 and put him to work in the rebuild of a UW program that was set to enter the Big Ten.

Bland's recruiting reputation is relatively attractive for his strong ties to the Los Angeles area. While out of college basketball, he served as a head basketball coach in the city at St. Bernard High School, a place that long ago supplied players to the UW, plus he coached AAU ball and dealt with at-risk youth.

His departure opens up a spot on Sprinkle's staff that currently consists of Andy Hill, Quincy Pondexter, Tommy Connor and DeMarlo Slocum.

Pondexter, a former UW player for Lorenzo Romar and coach for Mike Hopkins, returned to his alma mater this winter after spending a season at USC.

\Will Conroy, an ex-Husky guard and assistant, remains with the Trojans coaching staff.

There is no indication whether Conroy would consider returning to his native Seattle, or whether Sprinkle would entertain that idea.

Yet Conroy's son, Will Jr., is considered one of the nation's top ninth-graders as a point guard and the UW has offered him a scholarship.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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