Bill Self is adding Tony Bland to his coaching staff

With Chase Buford making the move to the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach, Bill Self suddenly had a spot to fill on his bench. Well, it didn’t take long for KU’s coach to make a splash.

Early on Tuesday afternoon, sources confirmed to On3’s Joe Tipton that Tony Bland has accepted an assistant coaching position on Self’s staff. Currently, Bland holds the same title at Washington.

Bland has made a name for himself due to his strong recruiting ties on the West Coast. Before joining Danny Sprinkle’s Washington staff, Bland served as the Head Basketball Coach at St. Bernard High School in Los Angeles.

Prior to taking over at St. Bernard, Bland was the Associate Head Coach at USC from 2013 to 2017 under Andy Enfield.

Tony Bland had a successful run in college

During his playing days, Bland played for two national championship coaches in Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and Steve Fisher at San Diego State.

Additionally, he was part of teams that won 84 games and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments and the NIT in his four seasons of collegiate basketball.

He combined to score 1,368 points, grab 331 rebounds, and dish out 319 assists in 127 collegiate games, 95 starts.

Initially, Bland started out his college career at Syracuse for the 1999 and 2000 seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament each season.

Bland, as a sophomore, was one of three Syracuse players to start every game for a team that advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual NCAA Champion Michigan State in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Bland eventually transferred to San Diego State and, as a junior in 2002, led San Diego State’s magical run to a Mountain West tournament championship and the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1985.

That season, Bland averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists, becoming the first player in the history of the Mountain West Conference to rank among the league’s top 10 players in scoring and assists and top 20 in rebounding.

Bland was a two-time Mountain West All-Conference selection.

Following his college career, Bland was invited to the Indiana Pacers’ training camp and then went on to play in the United States Basketball League, where he earned the league’s Rookie of the Year award.

He signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings for the 2004 preseason. He went on to play in Russia, the NBA Development League, and in Europe.