Longtime Kansas assistant under Bill Self retiring

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self will not have a familiar face by his side when the Jayhawks take the court next season.

Longtime assistant Norm Roberts announced his retirement after 13 seasons on the Kansas staff and more than 30 years in college basketball

“I want to thank everybody at the University of Kansas and from everywhere I’ve been lucky enough to coach,” Roberts said in a press release. “I’ve been fortunate that I’ve never worked a day in my life. Being able to coach at Kansas and be part of this program has been unbelievable.”

Roberts spent most of his career coaching next to Self. Before Roberts’ most recent run with the Jayhawks, he was on Self’s staff at Oral Roberts from 1995 to 1997, Tulsa from 1997 to 2000, Illinois from 2000 to 2003 and at Kansas in Self’s first season, 2003-04.

After that, he spent six seasons as St. John’s head coach, leading the Red Storm to two postseason appearances but no trips to the NCAA Tournament.

“This is a bittersweet moment for me because Norm and I have been together since 1995,” Self said. “Norm has played a key role to our success at all of the stops we have had together, especially here at Kansas. From recruiting to developing players to scouting and his knowledge of the game both on and off the court, Norm has been instrumental in what we have achieved. We won a lot of games together – many conference titles, deep NCAA Tournament runs, Final Fours and a national championship. We’ve had some unbelievable memories that will last our lifetimes.”

Before joining Self at Oral Roberts, Roberts was the head coach at his alma mater, Division II Queens College in New York, from 1991 to 1995, though he never won more than eight games in a season with the Knights. Roberts also coached four games for Kansas in 2023, going unbeaten as Self served a suspension and battled illness.