The Kansas men’s basketball team is bringing back another familiar face to serve on its coaching staff.
Chase Buford, who spent three seasons as a walk-on for Bill Self from 2007 to 2010, will now join Self as an analyst, KU announced Friday morning.
Buford most recently served as the head coach of the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League. He had previously risen through the NBA G League, from stints as an assistant coach with the Erie BayHawks and Delaware Blue Coats to a head-coaching job with the Wisconsin Herd.
He began his career working in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.
Buford’s ties to KU basketball run deeper than just his stint as a walk-on. He is the son of R.C. Buford, the longtime San Antonio Spurs executive who currently serves as the team’s CEO. R.C. Buford was an assistant at KU for Larry Brown in the 1980s and helped bring Self on board for his first stint with the Jayhawks as a graduate assistant. Self, shortly after getting hired as KU’s head coach in 2003, called him “one of my dearest friends in life.”
Chase Buford’s arrival on the KU staff follows the departure of video coordinator Brady Morningstar, a former teammate of his, who according to KU left after the season and is looking to work in the NBA.
When Buford joined the Kings as their head coach, he praised Self for his ability to build relationships.
“Holding guys accountable because of those relationships is something he really excels at,” he told the team website. “Everyone that’s played under him loves him and you see a lot of guys go back and try to work for him. He just creates an awesome environment to go play and compete and the man-management people skills he has are really special.”
