A blast from the past has rejoined Kansas University’s men’s basketball coaching staff.

Steve Robinson, 44, who worked on Roy Williams’ original KU staff, has returned, taking over for Neil Dougherty, who left KU after seven seasons to take over Texas Christian University’s program.

Robinson went 64-86 in five years at Florida State after a 46-18 two-year mark at Tulsa.

“This is like coming home,” said Robinson, who joins a staff that includes assistants Joe Holladay, Ben Miller, Jerod Haase and C.B. McGrath.

“I’m happy and excited to work for coach Williams and the University of Kansas again. To me, me, I have an opportunity to work at the highest level for a program that emphasizes integrity, class and character.”

The Jayhawks went 181-51 from 1989-95, qualifying for two Final Fours during Robinson’s first stint at Kansas.

“I’m getting the opportunity to come back home and work with people that I have fond memories of, be in a program that I have fond memories of and just be involved with what I think is one of the best college programs in the country … the overall program in terms of graduating players, integrity, the whole works of a college basketball program,” Robinson said.

Robinson and the 51-year-old Williams are as close as “brothers,” Williams said.

“Steve will care for our student-athletes both on and off the court and will represent the university the right way,” Williams said. “The seven years he’s been gone he’s gained valuable insights into the game of basketball from a head coaching perspective that I think will even be able to help us from that stage.”

Robinson started out 18-14 at FSU, next suffering four straight losing seasons. He was fired in March with two years remaining on his contract.

“I think having the opportunity to coach in the ACC and coach against some real good coaches and good programs … that is an experience that will help make me a better coach and assistant coach,” Robinson said.

“I’ve been through some wars and tough times. I’ve been through the thought process  the whole thing of preparation and planning. I think I’ll be a better assistant now than when I first came here. I understand it a lot better, the way things will be done. I hope to continue to lighten the load of coach Williams and allow him to do the things he needs to be doing.”

Robinson financially could have taken a year or two off after being replaced in Tallahassee, Fla., but said being idle would have “driven myself nuts and my family crazy. There’s only so much I could take of my own golf game.

“I hit a bad shot and say, ‘I have to go back to work.’ Coaching is what I want to do. Having an opportunity to come back to Kansas … I can come out of retirement for that.”

As far as possibly being a head coach again. .. “The big thing for me now is coming back and immersing myself back in this program,” he said. “To find ways to help the program continue to get better if it can get better. How much better can it get I don’t know.

“If the opportunity somewhere down the road comes about, then it happens, but again, my priority now is to be the best assistant I can be.”

Robinson and wife Lisa have four children  sons Tarron (13), Denzel (11) and daughters Shauna (22) and Kiaya (9).

“We love Lawrence, My kids have fond memories,” Robinson said. “I think all of them had hoped and wished we’d come back and live here. They all came to me and made that statement before it was all solidified and done.

“They have different memories, being at the Final Four kind of brought back more memories,” added Robinson, who brought his family to the Final Four in Atlanta. “Each has a new segment of things they remember. The babies were fairly young at the time.”

Williams is quite close to the Robinson clan.

“On a personal note, I’m ecstatic for Steve and his family to be back in Lawrence,” Williams said. “They love Lawrence. They love the University of Kansas and he’s been extremely important to me for the last 14 years. All our players will get to know Steve quickly and they will feel very comfortable around him and his personality.”

In an odd twist, new TCU coach Neil Dougherty replaced Robinson at KU seven years ago. Now Robinson replaces Dougherty.

“I felt very comfortable when Steve Robinson left that I could replace him with Neil,” Williams said. “I knew that the continuity would remain with a coach who would care about our student-athletes both on and off the court, and that would represent the university in the right way.

“It’s ironic that now, seven years later, I’m turning it around and saying the same kinds of things. Neil is going to be extremely successful at Texas Christian and I wish him success, yet at the same time I am very pleased that I can bring Steve back and say the same kinds of things about him.

“He will care for our student-athletes both on and off the court and he’ll represent the university the right way.”

Robinson will have no trouble adjusting to being an assistant again.

“There is some adjustment there, going from one chair to another. I think for me, I am not a guy with a big ego. I can do a lot of things. Working for coach Williams is easy for me to do.”

Robinson, by the way, was a part of Williams’ first staff that included Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt head coach), Jerry Green (former Oregon, Tennessee head coach, now out of coaching) and Mark Turgeon (Wichita State).

“Coach Williams used to say, ‘Individually you could find weaknesses but collectively there were none.’ The key was the way coach put it together. He molded us into a team much like he molds players into a team,” Stallings said.

Stallings remembers Robinson phoned him during his first season as a head coach  a 16-11 year at Illinois State.

“He knew things might be down and called to pick me up,” Stallings said. “He is a great person.”

Of his early days at KU, Robinson said: “I remember when we first got here (in summer of ’88), I was just unsure,” said Robinson, who grew up in Roanoke, Va., and played college ball at Radford. “I didn’t know coach Williams that well when he offered me the job. We had just spent two years at Cornell (where Robinson was assistant) and now were moving to a university out in the Midwest  foreign country to us.

“As a staff, we were all so new to everything compared to now. Some fans had to be saying (of Williams), ‘Can he coach? Can he run a program? Can he graduate players?’ All those questions people may have had about coach early in his career when we started  he answered those in a hurry, didn’t he?

“Look at what he’s accomplished in 14 years. I see the growth. You never think Kansas basketball can get bigger. It has gotten bigger under coach Williams and better.”