Bill Self is losing an assistant coach to the NBA. Chase Buford has departed the KU program and is taking a job in the NBA working for the Denver Nuggets. Buford joined the KU staff last offseason. Per documents obtained by 247Sports through an open records request, Buford was initially hired as an "analyst." But his title was later changed to "assistant coach" and that was the role he served during the 2024-25 season.
Self credited Buford for his use of analytics this calendar year and praised him for his work as an assistant. Now, Buford is set to join David Adelman's coaching staff in the same role.
"He got an assistant coach job, it's a great gig for him," Self said. "And happy for him. He did a really good job here."
Buford was a part of the KU basketball program in the late 2000s. He was a part of the national title-winning team in 2008. For his career, Buford played in 35 games, scoring 12 points in his career. He began his professional career as a regional scout in the NBA. He later became an assistant coach in the NBA G-League before he earned his first head coaching job leading the Wisconsin Herd, which is a part of the Milwaukee Bucks organization.
After he spent two seasons with the Herd, Buford moved to Australia, where he took over as the head coach for the Sydney Kings. He led the Kings to the NBL title in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023. In May of 2023, he and the King organization parted ways. He took some time off before joining the KU program. Now, Buford is heading back to working in professional basketball.
With Buford departing, Self is looking to replace him with another assistant coach. A source tells 247Sports that Self is looking for someone with a strong recruiting background.
"I'm in the process of looking into some different things," Self said. "But I haven't done anything yet. I feel like I've got the scope kind of narrowed down to what I think would be good for us. But I haven't done anything yet."
Here's a look at Self's staff as the start of the academic year nears...
Jacque Vaughn - Assistant
Kurtis Townsend - Assistant
Joe Dooley - Assistant
Jeremy Case - Assistant
Brennan Bechard - Director of Scouting
Doc Sadler - Senior Advisor
Lexi Price - Director of Basketball Operations