By ADAM ZAGORIA & SAM LANCE
Does Kansas now have a head coach-in-waiting for when Bill Self retires?
The school on Wednesday announced that Vaughn, the former Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic head coach and former All-American guard at Kansas, is now an assistant coach under Self.
It’s now set up for Vaughn, 50, to eventually succeed the 62-year-old Self should he retire in a year or two.
In February, Self shut down talk that he would retire following the 2024-25 season, saying simply, “No.”
Now, though, he has a younger assistant who could potentially take over down the road.
“We’re very excited to welcome Jacque and (his wife) Laura into the fold,” Self said in a statement. “I’ve known Jacque from a distance for several years now and have always admired how he has conducted himself professionally and how he has treated people. I think he will be an excellent addition to our program, while also serving as a great mentor, coach and representative of Kansas basketball. We lost an awesome coach in Norm (Roberts) when he retired but feel very fortunate to have replaced him with a tremendous Jayhawk that has a unique and impressive resume.”
Several schools have recently hired (and fired) former players with mixed success. Jon Scheyer has excelled at Duke, while Hubert Davis has had up-and-down results at North Carolina. Kenny Payne, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin all failed to varying degrees at their alma maters.
“I think that Vaughn is absolutely going to be the next head coach at Kansas,” one Kansas insider told ZAGSBLOG. “The fans loved him, he’s a natural leader. If he sits on that bench for two years, there’s no way the administration isn’t going to give him a shot. It’s bad optics.”
Of potentially following Self, who has won two NCAA championship, the insider said: “You never want to be the guy who follows the guy. You want to be the guy who follows the guy who follows the guy.
Vaughn, who served as a coach for five-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets, is the first-ever former NBA head coach to join the Kansas coaching staff. He brings more than 15 years of NBA coaching experience back to his alma mater and has coached NBA All-Stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Victor Oladipo and Ben Simmons and former Jayhawks Markieff Morris and Jalen Wilson.
Vaughn played four seasons at Kansas from 1993-94 until 1996-97, leaving his mark as one of the greatest point guards in program history. He concluded his career as KU’s and the Big Eight Conference’s all-time assists leader with 804 assists, which currently ranks third at KU. The Los Angeles, California native earned second-team All-American honors his senior year under coach Roy Williams. Vaughn was a two-time Academic All-American First Team selection in 1996 and 1997 and was the 1997 Academic All-American of the Year. Vaughn and Cole Aldrich (2010) are the only two players in program history to be named Academic All-American of the Year.
Vaughn garnered two All-Big Eight honors and was the 1996 Big Eight Player of the Year. He also received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholar-Athlete Award in 1996.
On the KU career charts, Vaughn ranks third in assists (804), ninth in games started (125), 19th in steals (160), 23rd in three-point field goal percentage (38.3%) and 40th in points scored (1,207). Vaughn’s KU jersey was officially retired on Dec. 21, 2002. He now returns to Lawrence to carry on the Jayhawk tradition as a member of the coaching staff.
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