SAN DIEGO
First-year Kansas assistant basketball coach Tony Bland rejoiced a week ago when the Jayhawks learned they’d be headed to San Diego for first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games.
Bland, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound, 46-year-old former standout guard for the San Diego State Aztecs (2001-03) played his home games in Viejas Arena, site of KU’s first-round NCAA victory over Cal Baptist Friday. KU will take on St. John’s in the second round in a 4:15 p.m. Central tip back at Viejas on Sunday.
Bland, who also spent the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as an assistant coach on Steve Fisher’s staff at his alma mater, has been a popular interview target of the local media and received well-wishes from friends and family in the area.
“When I saw San Diego (on the CBS Selection Sunday show), my family and everyone, I couldn’t contain myself, because I knew that would be a really nostalgic feeling for me to walk back into this building and to kind of play on this court in something other than an Aztec jersey. So it was a great thing,” Bland told The Star on Saturday.
Former fan-favorite Bland, a two-time Mountain West all-conference selection while at San Diego State, in 127 career games started 95 contests. He scored 1,368 points, grabbed 331 rebounds and dished out 319 assists.
As a coach, he helped lead the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament both seasons and the 2012 Big West Conference title.
“You know what? I don’t know if I’m being treated like a hero, but it feels good to be recognized in the place you hold dearly and you’ve done a lot of things and accomplished a lot of things. So it feels great. But, you know, my focus is to come here and win two games for the University of Kansas,” Bland said.
His relatives in San Diego understand he’s quite busy this weekend and unable to attend any family gatherings.
“I have relatives and everything here, but they understand that helping the University of Kansas win games come first, and then I’ll see them in the offseason, and we hope that’s another month from now,” Bland said.
Bland remembers after transferring to San Diego State from Syracuse, “it was back in the day we had to redshirt. So when I came from Syracuse I redshirted out here. We would sit and count the number of fans in the stands. My last game here, we sold it out. It’s probably been sold out ever since. Wonderful environment, probably some of the best fans in the country.”
He loves Viejas Arena, which holds 11,559 spectators.
“I think that it’s a great environment, one of the best places to play in the world, especially on the West Coast,” said Bland, who is originally from Los Angeles. “Obviously it doesn’t have the tradition and all that stuff with (Allen) Fieldhouse, but it definitely creates a big time advantage for the Aztecs against teams coming here.”
Bland said he’s enjoyed his first year as a member of KU coach Bill Self’s basketball staff.
“Obviously, you get to learn from coach Self, that goes without being said, right?” Bland said. “But although you get to learn from the GOAT, you also get to learn from Jacque Vaughn, who is a head coach. Kurtis Townsend, in my opinion, is the best to ever do what he does. Joe Dooley is a head coach. Jeremy Case, head coach in waiting … he’ll be a great head coach one day. Greatness all around you.
“So what I’ve learned here is that when you are around so many great people, it elevates your level of getting things done. It’s been amazing being on the staff with such so many great people.”
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Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.