| Kurtis Townsend | |
| Current Title: | Assistant coach |
| Current Team: | Kansas |
| Current Conference: | Big 12 |
| Birth Date: | 13 December 1957[1] |
| Player Years1: | 1978–1980 |
| Player Team1: | Western Kentucky |
| Coach Years1: | 1993–1997 |
| Coach Team1: | California (assistant) |
| Coach Years2: | 1997–1998 |
| Coach Team2: | Eastern Kentucky (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 1998–2001 |
| Coach Team3: | Michigan (assistant) |
| Coach Years4: | 2001–2003 |
| Coach Team4: | USC (assistant) |
| Coach Years5: | 2003–2004 |
| Coach Team5: | Miami (FL) (assistant) |
| Coach Years6: | 2004–present |
| Coach Team6: | Kansas (assistant) |
| Championships: | |
Kurtis Townsend (born December 13, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Townsend was an assistant on the Jayhawks 2007–08 and 2021-22 NCAA national championship team.[2]
Townsend is a 1982 graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he completed his bachelor's degree in recreation and played point guard from 1978–80. The team won the 1980 Ohio Valley Conference championship and earned a bid in the 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they lost in the first round to Virginia Tech in an overtime game.[3]
Prior to Western Kentucky, Townsend spent two seasons playing at Menlo Junior College in California.
After college, Townsend played one season for the Montana Golden Nuggets of the CBA.
Townsend had coaching positions at Miami, USC, and Michigan early in his career. He joined Kansas as an assistant in 2004. In his tenure at Kansas, he has won 2 National Championships.[4] Michigan, Eastern Kentucky and Cal.[5] [6] In the 2022–23 season, Townsend and head coach Bill Self were suspended for 4 games for recruiting violations.[7]
Townsend resides in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife and his five children. He is the brother of former NBA player Raymond Townsend.