Source: Kansas basketball assistant coaches Norm Roberts, Kurtis Townsend expected back next season
FORT WORTH, TX — While Kansas men’s basketball assistant coaches Norm Roberts and Kurtis Townsend each have contracts that are set to end March 31, 2022, that’s not a reason to doubt their place with the program.
A source with direct knowledge of the coaches' contracts told The Topeka Capital-Journal the two are expected to be back with the team again next season. The deals that would be in place to keep them on just aren’t finalized yet.
Roberts is currently in the 10th season of his second stint as an assistant with the Jayhawks under head coach Bill Self. Roberts was also on Self’s staff during the 2003-04 season. Roberts worked with Self at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois, too.
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Townsend has been on Self’s staff for nearly two decades, after coming to Lawrence ahead of the 2004-05 season. Townsend’s stops prior to Kansas include Miami and USC, among other programs. He, like Roberts, made the trip Tuesday to Fort Worth, Texas, with the team ahead of the start of its time in the NCAA Tournament.
The Jayhawks open play in the 2022 NCAA Tournament Thursday as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. Kansas captured a share of the Big 12 Conference’s regular season title this season, ahead of earning the Big 12 tournament title in Kansas City. It’s the first time Self and company have won both the conference’s regular season and tournament championships since the 2017-18 campaign.
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The 2017-18 season is also the last time the Jayhawks reached the Final Four, and with the talent the 2021-22 team has, there’s no reason to doubt it has the potential to do so again. Getting codeals done, even if they're only a stop-gap before something more long-term, would keep Roberts and Townsend with the team for the 2022 Final Four should Kansas get there.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Source: Kansas basketball's Norm Roberts, Kurtis Townsend to return
