Classic Jayhawks: Jacque Vaughn is rising in the NBA coaching ranks
After an exceptional four-year career with Kansas Jayhawks basketball, Jacque Vaughn did well as an NBA player. Since retiring in 2009, Vaughn has been successfully coaching in the league.
Jacque Vaughn had an incredible high school career that was capped off by a 13 assist performance in the McDonald’s All-American game. The 13 assist mark is still holding as the assist record in the prestigious game. Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams was able to recruit Vaughn to the Jayhawks over other schools like Indiana, UCLA, and UNLV.
Vaughn made an immediate impact for Kansas during his freshman season in 1993, starting for the Jayhawks. He went on to have one of the greatest careers in Kansas basketball history while playing for the Jayhawks. In his four seasons, Vaughn became the school’s all-time assist leader with 804 (the record has since been broken by Aaron Miles).
In college, Vaughn averaged 6.4 assists and 9.4 points per game. He was awarded Big 8 player of the year in 1996 and had his jersey number 11 retired by Kansas later in 2002.
While he was a superb athlete, Jacque Vaughn’s greatest strength might have been his intelligence. At Kansas, he earned a 3.72 GPA and completed his Business Administration degree as well as being named an Academic All-American twice.
After graduating, Vaughn was selected by the Utah Jazz late in the first round. He played for five different teams over the span of his 11 year NBA career. In 2007, Vaughn was a member of the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
After retiring in 2009, Vaughn immediately began his NBA coaching career with the Spurs. In 2012, he was hired as the head coach of the Orlando Magic. After three tough seasons in Orlando, Vaughn was fired by the Magic and ended up joining the Brooklyn Nets coaching staff where he still is today.
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Jacque Vaughn has had an incredible run thus far, both as a coach and a player. The amount of experience Vaughn has is incredible, and it’s only a matter of time until he’s head coaching a big-time college basketball or NBA team.