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Myron MedcalfAug 19, 2025, 02:48 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Myron Medcalf covers college basketball for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2011.<\/p>\n Kansas<\/a> will hire Tony Bland, who was implicated in the 2017 FBI investigation that threatened to alter the sport, as an assistant coach, a source told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Bland, who worked as an assistant<\/a> at Washington<\/a> last season, was one of the 10 individuals arrested in a federal probe around a bribery scheme and accused of accepting money in exchange for steering pro prospects to specific individuals and their businesses.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Bland, then an assistant at USC<\/a>, subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy<\/a> after admitting that he accepted a $4,100 bribe from business managers and financial advisers to direct athletes to use their services.<\/p>\n Bland was sentenced to two years’ probation and did not serve jail time. He was also hit with a three-year show cause that expired last year, when Washington’s Danny Sprinkle gave him his first job since the FBI investigation.<\/p>\n Bland joins a Kansas squad that enters the year in a precarious situation, compared to past years for the storied program.<\/p>\n Bill Self was recently hospitalized for the second time in two years with a heart issue. He had two stents placed into his heart in July<\/a> and is expected to make a full recovery. Two years ago, he missed multiple games, including the team’s 2023 NCAA tournament loss to Arkansas, with cardiac issues.<\/p>\n Bland joins a staff that also recently added former standout Jacque Vaughn as an assistant<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n