After the Washington Huskies officially hired basketball coach Danny Sprinkle on Monday, he has wasted no time in putting his coaching staff together and appears to have his sights set on a talented, yet polarizing assistant coach in former USC Trojans associate head coach Tony Bland.
Bland grew up in a rough neighborhood in south Los Angeles and attended Westchester High School where he was a basketball star. His work ethic on the court was one of the things that many remember him by. He was the most tenacious player on the court, which helped lead his team to a state championship and playing time at both Syracuse and San Diego State.
He started his college career at Syracuse and then transferred to San Diego State before his junior year and was a key part of their 2001 team making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985.
Bland joined the Aztecs coaching staff in 2011 and remained there until coach Andy Enfield and USC came calling. During his time with USC was known as one of the best recruiters on the West Coast and seemed to be on his way to becoming a head coach.
However, Bland was arrested in 2017 as part of a high profile FBI investigation that included 10 other coaches at numerous other schools including South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Louisville.
Bland plead guilty to taking a bribe of $4,100 to steer players to retain certain financial advisors and business managers once they entered the professional ranks. The prosecuting attorney was seeking 6 months to two years in prison, but the judge took into consideration Bland’s clean record and the journey he took to get out of the troubled neighborhood he grew up in and become so successful in life. The judge handed down a sentence of two years probation.
“I am convinced to a moral certainty that I will not see Mr. Bland again, at least not in this courtroom,” Judge Edgardo Ramos said in 2019.
“I’m excited it’s over, I appreciate Judge Ramos for the outcome and giving me another chance, a second chance,” Bland told CBS Sports after the sentencing in June 2019. “I’m just looking forward to rebuilding from my mistakes, and from this moment on, spending the rest of my life trying to prove and help and reverse the stigma that came from this.”
Since then, Bland has spent his time volunteering with troubled youth in the Los Angeles area, which helped him earn a job as the head basketball coach at St. Bernard High School.
Bland’s journey and experience, while tumultuous, seems to have been what he needed to find his way back to college basketball and the talented coach could make a big impact if Sprinkle does indeed decide to bring him onboard.