Kurtis Townsend (born December 13, 1957) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach who is an assistant

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. Townsend was an assistant on the Jayhawks 2007–08 and 2021-22 NCAA national championship team.

Playing career

Townsend is a 1982 graduate of

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

, where he completed his bachelor's degree in recreation and played point guard from 1978 to 1980. The team won the 1980 Ohio Valley Conference championship and earned a bid in the 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they lost in the first round to Virginia Tech in an overtime game. Prior to Western Kentucky, Townsend spent two seasons playing at Menlo Junior College in California. After college, Townsend played one season for the

Montana Golden Nuggets The Montana Golden Nuggets are a former Continental Basketball Association (CBA) team that played from 1980 to 1983. They played their home games at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Montana, Great Falls. Montana reached the CBA finals in 1981 ...

of the CBA.

Coaching career

Townsend had coaching positions at Miami, USC, and Michigan early in his career. He joined Kansas as an assistant in 2004. In his tenure at Kansas, he has won 2 National Championships. Michigan, Eastern Kentucky and Cal. In the 2022–23 season, Townsend and head coach Bill Self were suspended for 4 games for recruiting violations.

Personal life

Townsend resides in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife and his five children. He is the brother of former NBA player Raymond Townsend.

References

External links

Kansas Jayhawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Kurtis 1957 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players California Golden Bears men's basketball coaches Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball coaches Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball coaches Miami Hurricanes men's basketball coaches Michigan Wolverines men's basketball coaches USC Trojans men's basketball coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen