Former Jayhawk Naadir Tharpe joins coaching staff at Brewster Academy

By Matt Tait     Sep 20, 2020

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Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe, right, and forward Tarik Black slap hands with Frank Mason after Mason completed a dunk following a series of backflips during a day of press conferences and practices at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Thursday, March 20, 2014.

Former KU point guard Naadir Tharpe has been added to the coaching staff at Brewster Academy, where he played before coming to Kansas.

The news came late last week from Brewster head coach Jason Smith, who pointed out in a tweet announcing the hire that Tharpe was the NEPSAC player of the year in 2011 before he went on to earn an honorable mention all-Big 12 nod with the Jayhawks.

Tharpe’s hiring also brought out some social media shots from Kansas fans who brought up his unceremonious departure from the program, which came shortly after a racy photograph of him at a bar surfaced on social media.

In three years with the program, Tharpe played in 103 games and made 31 starts. He averaged 5.5 minutes during KU’s Final Four season in 2011-12 and 19.4 minutes with a 5.5 points-per-game scoring average his sophomore season in 2012-13. He averaged 5.1 points for his career and his 304 assists were 18 shy of cracking KU’s top-20 list.

Two things that are worth remembering about Tharpe: First, he loved Kansas and has been back a handful of times and continues to be well liked by his former teammates. Second, had he not left, it’s entirely possible that the Jayhawks would not have had a scholarship available to add Devonte’ Graham to the 2014-15 roster.

The news of Tharpe’s decision to forego his senior season came out on May 1, 2014. Graham committed on May 2 of that same year.

All’s well that ends well, right?

Beyond that, Tharpe’s presence on the Brewster Academy coaching staff potentially could help the Jayhawks land future prospects who may make their way through the elite prep school in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Who knows?

But for a guy who recently completed his degree at KU and still has great memories and connections to the program, seeing him get his coaching career started is something fans might be interested in keeping an eye on.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.