Kansas great Jacque Vaughn, a former All-American, whose No. 11 jersey hangs in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse, is returning to Lawrence as an assistant coach for his alma mater, coach Bill Self announced today.

Vaughn, who served as an NBA head coach for five-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets, is the first-ever former NBA head coach to join the KU 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.

“We’re very excited to welcome Jacque and (his wife) Laura into the fold,” Self said. “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.”

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), 19^th in steals (160), 23^rd in three-point field goal percentage (38.3%) and 40^th 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.

Following his brilliant collegiate career, Vaughn was drafted in the first round, No. 27 overall, by the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA Draft. He enjoyed a long playing career, spending 12 seasons in the NBA – four with Utah (1998-2001), two with Atlanta (2002, 2004), one with Orlando (2003), two with New Jersey (2005-06) and three with San Antonio (2007-09). He was a key reserve on the 2007 San Antonio Spurs team that won an NBA Championship. He played 20 minutes with eight points and six assists in the victory that sent his team to the NBA Finals, where they swept LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Following his playing career, Vaughn was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs from 2010 to 2012 and was named head coach for the Orlando Magic in July 2012. After his time as head coach of the Magic (216 games), he spent the 2015-16 season as a scout for the Spurs. Vaughn then became a top assistant for the Brooklyn Nets for the 2016-17 season and was named interim head coach in March 2020 and guided the franchise the NBA playoffs. He moved back to his assistant role that September under Coach Steve Nash.

In November 2022, once again Vaughn was named interim head coach of the Nets and shortly thereafter had the interim title removed. He guided the Nets to playoffs for the second time in 2023 and while with the Nets, he coached several standouts, including Durant, Irving, Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas and Jarrett Allen.

Vaughn will now return home to KU to replace Norm Roberts, who retired earlier this month. Vaughn will join Kurtis Townsend, Jeremy Case, Joe Dooley and Chase Buford as assistants on Self’s staff.