Kentucky officially announces hires of Nick Robinson, Randy Towner

On Monday, Kentucky Men’s Basketball officially announced the program has hired Nick Robinson and Randy Towner. Robinson will serve as the team’s director of operations while Towner will be Kentucky’s head strength coach.

Robinson was an assistant coach at BYU from 2019-24, serving under head coach Mark Pope. Now, the pair will reunite in Lexington, Kentucky, with hopes to reach new heights. Pope is certainly excited about the addition.

“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’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.”

Robinson played at Stanford from 2001-05 and was a team captain for the Cardinal during his final two years with the program. Robinson is thrilled to begin his new position at Kentucky.

“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.”

Randy Towner is ready for the opportunity

Robinson isn’t the only one who has previous experience with Pope. Towner worked for the Milwaukee Bucks from 2022-24. However, he also has coached UTSA, Utah, UAB and Utah Valley, where he worked alongside Pope.

Pope believes Towner will be a perfect fit for Kentucky.

“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 seems to be equally excited.

“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.”