Nick Robinson and Randy Towner join Kentucky Basketball staff

The Kentucky Wildcats have hired Nick Robinson as the school’s new men’s basketball director of operations, it was announced Monday. The school has also hired Randy Towner as the next men’s basketball head strength coach.

Robinson comes to Lexington after serving as an assistant coach at BYU from 2019-24 under head coach Mark Pope.

“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.

“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.

Before his time at BYU, 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 SEC 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.

“What a privilege to be joining the Kentucky basketball family,” Robinson said in a press release. “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.”

As for Towner, he most recently worked for the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

“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 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