LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mark Pope's first Kentucky men's basketball coaching staff continues to come together. The school announced two additions Monday, with Nick Robinson joining as director of operations and Randy Towner as the head strength coach.
Robinson will reunite with Pope in Lexington, having served as an assistant coach at BYU from 2019-2024.
Towner arrives on campus after most recently working in the Milwaukee Bucks organization.
“Nick Robinson has worked in college basketball in every capacity from being a special assistant to the head coach to the head coach himself,” Pope said in a press release. “He’s had incredible success, worked in every area of the country, has a great track record and an incredible future in front of him."
Before his arrival in Provo, Utah, Robinson was an assistant coach at Seattle from 2017-19 and the head coach at Southern Utah from 2012-16. He spent three seasons in the Southeastern Conference at LSU, where he served in a variety of roles including assistant coach, director of basketball operations and executive assistant to the head coach.
Prior to that, Robinson was an assistant coach at William Jewell College in 2008-09 and both an assistant coach and director of operations at his alma mater, Stanford, from 2006-08.
Robinson played college basketball in Palo Alto from 2001-05, helping the Cardinal to a 92-34 record, Pac-10 regular-season and tournament championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances. His legacy includes hitting one of the most famous shots in Stanford program history when he connected on a running 35-footer at the buzzer to send the No. 2 Cardinal past No. 12 Arizona in 2004.
"Along with being a terrific coach, he was a great player in his own right, hitting one of the most famous shots in the history of the Pac-12. As a Stanford grad, he’s incredibly intelligent and has boundless energy and intensity. Nick is meticulously organized and extremely passionate about building a high-level program. We’re happy to have him on staff.”
Robinson graduated from Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in sociology.
“What a privilege to be joining the Kentucky basketball family,” Robinson said. “I’m grateful to Mitch Barnhart and Coach Pope for the opportunity to work with incredible people who strive for excellence in every aspect of the program. The best fans in the country, my family and I are excited to represent BBN and our amazing players.”
Welcome to #BBN, Director of Operations Nick Robinson and Head Strength Coach Randy Towner.
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) June 3, 2024
📰🔗 https://t.co/5uSqpM7SUM pic.twitter.com/DZNZIMSDPY
The Wildcats also welcomed Towner, who is experienced in both the college and professional ranks, to Pope’s inaugural staff in Lexington.
“Randy Towner is one of the elite strength and conditioning coaches in all of basketball,” Pope said. “He spent time in the college ranks before moving on to one of the best staffs in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks. Our guys are blessed to have him here. He has a ton of juice, a wealth of expertise and will embrace what Kentucky basketball is all about.”
Towner worked with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2022-24. Prior to that, he was involved with several college basketball programs, including UTSA, Utah, UAB and Utah Valley, where he worked alongside Pope during the coach’s time with the Wolverines.
“I could not be more excited to join Coach Pope’s staff again,” Towner said. “We had a great experience working together at Utah Valley and I’m excited for the chance to work with him again here at Kentucky. We want to step in and be the best performance staff in the country and help this program win a national championship. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but we are up for the challenge.”
Towner earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science from Utah in 2016. He went on to earn a master’s in sport conditioning and performance from Southern Utah in 2021.
He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA) and a specialist in functional range conditioning movement, performance enhancement and corrective exercise.
The pair join a foursome of assistant coaches, in Associate Head Coach Alvin Brooks III, Associate Coach Mark Fox, Assistant Coach Cody Fueger and Assistant Coach Jason Hart.
For more on Pope's staff, watch BBN Tonight's exclusive interviews below:
