Washington Husky men’s assistant Tony Bland reportedly headed to Kansas
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Tony Bland is leaving the Washington men’s basketball program for an assistant job at Kansas. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
Tony Bland is leaving the Washington men’s basketball program for an assistant job at Kansas. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)
By Percy Allen Seattle Times staff reporter
After one season with the Washington men’s basketball team, assistant Tony Bland is reportedly going to Kansas for the same role on Jayhawk coach Bill Self’s staff.
Bland was among several new assistants who UW coach Danny Sprinkle brought to Montlake when he was hired last year.
At the time, Bland thanked the Huskies for bringing him back to collegiate basketball following a seven-year hiatus in which he was among 10 individuals snared in a 2017 FBI probe and corruption scandal that rocked the sport.
In 2019, Bland pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery for accepting $4,100 to steer players to particular financial advisers and business managers after they turned pro while he was an USC associate coach. He received two years’ probation and did not serve jail time.He was also hit with a three-year show cause that expired last year before being hired at Washington.
After leaving the NCAA, Bland rebuilt his career and reputation coaching the St. Bernard High boys’ basketball team in Los Angeles.
Bland’s West Coast ties helped the Huskies secure a 2025 transfer and recruiting class that’s nationally ranked 13th and 15th respectively by 247Sports.com.
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About 10 weeks before the start of the 2025-26 season, Sprinkle’s staff takes an unexpected hit and it remains to be seen how he fills the vacancy.
Andy Hill is UW’s associate coach while DeMarlo Slocum, Tommy Connor and newly rehired Quincy Pondexter are assistants.
Longtime staffer Jerry Hobbie, who is the lone holdover from the previous coaching regime, is the special assistant to the head coach while former Husky standout Abdul Gaddy returns as director of player of development.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report Bland is joining Kansas.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes .com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
Comments
Bland and Kansas go together rather nicely
Bland was hired to be a recruiting mercenary. Sprinkle will find another. His coaching loss won’t affect the actual basketball product this year at all, that’s not what he was here to do.
Some fucktards are campaigning for Will Conroy to return.
That's worked just awesome for the last 10 years.
Absolutely not.
Conroy as a recruiter / coach is a doog legend.
No disrespect to his playing career.
Also, Percy Allen is still around? Writing about UW hoops must be his retirement gig.