Kurtis Townsend

Biography

Kurtis Townsend joined the Kansas staff in summer 2004 and has been on the KU sidelines for 21 seasons. Townsend is the longest tenured assistant coach in Kansas men’s basketball history. Since his arrival in Lawrence, Townsend has been a part of the KU program which has won two national championships, reached three NCAA Tournament title games, three Final Fours, seven NCAA Tournament Elite Eights and nine NCAA Sweet 16s. KU has won an NCAA record 13-consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles (2005-17), 16 overall, and eight conference tournament crowns with Townsend on the sidelines. Also, while at Kansas, Townsend has coached 13 NBA Draft Lottery selections, 31 NBA draftees and more than 80 All-Big 12 Jayhawks. Following the 2023-24 season, Townsend was inducted into the Class of 2024 A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame. Recognized as a top assistant by many national organizations, Townsend played a major role in recruiting KU’s NBA draftees Josh Jackson, Andrew Wiggins, Ben McLemore, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Julian Wright, Josh Selby and 2010 Consensus All-America First Team selection Sherron Collins. He also was instrumental in bringing 2017 National Player of the Year, Frank Mason III, to KU as well as 2018 Consensus All-America First Team selection Devonte’ Graham. Townsend joined the Jayhawk staff after serving as an assistant under Perry Clark at the University of Miami for one season. He also served as an assistant at Southern California, Michigan, California