'That's one of the things that really brought me back'

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self called the philosophical and stylistic fit between himself and new KU assistant coach Jacque Vaughn “a work in progress,” but if their chemistry at the podium is any indication of how this pairing will go, the Jayhawks are in good shape.

Named by Self as the replacement to retiring assistant Norm Roberts earlier this spring, Vaughn was introduced to the local media for the first time at a Tuesday press conference that also featured five of KU’s seven newcomers.

Sitting side by side with Self, his new boss and the most recent caretaker of the program for which Vaughn starred in the 1990s, Vaughn carried good energy, a genuine appreciation for coming back to Kansas and an authentic enthusiasm to work alongside Self and learn from him the way he has learned from so many others during his basketball journey.

“That’s one of the things that really brought me back,” Vaughn said. “I've been fortunate to be around some great coaches, and we always talk about kids getting better and guys getting better, and I think, as a coach, I want to get better. So, the opportunity to be around a Hall of Famer who has two national championships and has taken our program to a different level really guided my pivot to come back home.”

Self, meanwhile, marveled at how cool it was to now have a man on his staff whose name and jersey number hangs in Allen Fieldhouse’s south rafters with the program’s all-time greats and also appears in the north rafters as a two-time Academic All-American.

"I played on the same floor that they're playing on. I think it's pretty cool."

— New KU assistant coach Jacque Vaughn on his return to Kansas

When searching for a player from his time in charge of the Jayhawks to compare Vaughn to, Self landed on Devonte’ Graham, and that pick checks out.

Both were All-Americans. Both were point guards and leaders. Both were, for a time, the face of Kansas basketball.

“We're very, very proud,” Self said. “And excited about Jacque coming in and making us better.”

While the two will come together in the coming months on the intricacies of their working relationship and the specific roles that Vaughn will fill, Self said Vaughn arrives on KU’s campus with something that not too many programs in America can say they have on their men’s basketball staff.

“I mean, we have a college assistant coach that was a three-time NBA head coach that's trained Kevin (Durant) and Kyrie (Irving) and all the different guys,” Self explained. “That, I think, brings immediate credibility to guys that want to be pros out there, knowing they're going to get to work with somebody that knows firsthand what it's supposed to look like.”

“I think it's exciting,” Self added, noting that Vaughn’s past ties to KU made the addition even sweeter. “But I don't think you hire somebody because people like him. I think you hire them only because they complement what your talents are, and he does that in a way that it brings something to us that’s different than what we’ve ever had before.”

While Vaughn knew that it was his NBA experience that Self was talking about, the former KU point guard couldn’t help but point out that, whether you’re coaching for one of the 30 franchises in the NBA or as the third assistant at a junior college, the goal remains the same.

“Players are players,” Vaughn explained. “The talent level could be different, but you still listen with intent, you still are truthful to guys, you still pull for them and want them to get better. That doesn't change. Coaching is coaching. It just so happened that my path took me to the NBA, but there's excellent coaches across this country that coach at all levels of the game.”

Now, for the first time in his career, the 50-year-old former KU great is bringing his coaching chops to the college level and returning to a place that he left nearly 30 years ago

“I played on the same floor that they're playing on,” Vaughn said, calling his return to KU “pretty cool.”

So much so, that on Tuesday he shared a personal moment that expressed just how cool he thinks this all is.

With his first day as a KU coach arriving on Monday, Vaughn said he woke up at 4:30 a.m. on his own and hopped up to get ready for the day.

“That's a good sign, right there,” he said. “The enthusiasm, like I was looking forward to being on the court with the guys, like it brought back all the first training camps that I had when I woke up early. So, just keep waking up early.”

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