Mark Pope said he would return to his coaching staff after closing out most of Kentucky’s roster, with Jaxson Robinson the icing on the cake of a strong 12-man group added after the Draft deadline last week. He had four assistant coaches hired for 2024-25 – Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger, Jason Hart and Mark Fox – but a very limited support staff to this point.
That changed on Monday when Pope announced two new additions: Nick Robinson joined as director of operations and Randy Towner as head strength coach. The former comes from BYU after serving as an assistant coach under Pope from 2019-2024, while the latter was previously with the Milwaukee Bucks.
“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. “He has had incredible success, he has worked in all areas of the country, he has a great career and an incredible future ahead of him. In addition to being an excellent coach, he was a great player in his own right, making one of the most famous shots in Pac-12 history. As a Stanford graduate, he is incredibly intelligent and has boundless energy and intensity. Nick is meticulously organized and passionate about creating a high-caliber program. “We are happy to have him on staff.”
“What a privilege to join the Kentucky basketball family,” Robinson said. “I am grateful to Mitch Barnhart and Coach Pope for the opportunity to work with incredible people who strive for excellence in all aspects of the program. “The best fans in the country, my family and I are excited to represent BBN and our incredible players.”
Robinson was previously an assistant coach at Seattle from 2017 to 2019 and head coach at Southern Utah from 2012 to 2016. Before that, he was at LSU for three seasons as an assistant coach, director of basketball operations and executive assistant to the head coach.
As for Towner, he comes to Kentucky from the Bucks and will work in Milwaukee from 2022 to 24.
“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 to one of the best teams in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks. Our guys are lucky to have him here. He has a lot of energy, a lot of experience and will embrace what Kentucky basketball is all about.”
Prior to his time with the Bucks, he also worked at UTSA, Utah, UAB and Utah Valley under Pope.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Coach Pope’s staff again,” Towner said. “We had a great experience working together in Utah Valley and I am excited for the opportunity to work with him again here in Kentucky. We want to step in and be the top performing staff in the country and help this program win a national championship. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are ready for the challenge.”
He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA) and a specialist in functional range conditioning movement, performance enhancement and corrective exercise.
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