Cleveland State hiring Missouri assistant Rob Summers as next head basketball coach

Cleveland State will hire Missouri assistant Rob Summers as its next head men’s basketball coach, the school announced. He takes over for Daniyal Robinson, who left this offseason to become the new coach at North Texas.

Summers spent just one season on the Tigers coaching staff as they finished 22-12 and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2024-25. He was previously an assistant on the Cleveland State staff from 2019-22 under current Missouri coach Dennis Gates.

“Coach Summers will be a Division I head coach,” Gates said in a statement on CSU’s website. “He is passionate about the game of basketball. He provides the authentic love necessary in developing young people and possesses an undefeated work ethic. He is great at building relationships within our campus community and nationally. He is a star.” 

The Vikings made an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021 after winning the Horizon League Tournament. They have finished with at least 20 wins every year since then but have yet to make it back to the big dance.

Summers will hope to continue the recent run of success that Cleveland State has enjoyed the past five seasons. He also brings experience as an assistant at Miami (OH), James Madison and as the head coach at Division II Urbana (Ohio) from 2014 to 2017.

Summers also enjoyed a college basketball playing career Penn State (2002-04) and West Virginia (2005-07) as a center. He helped lead the Mountaineers to the Sweet Sixteen in his first season and was a team captain the following year as they won the NIT. He shot 63.3% from the floor in 2006-07, a mark that still stands as the second-best in program history.

Rob Summers received a bachelor’s degree in sports management and would go on to earn his master’s in athletic coaching in 2012. He also played professionally overseas in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.

Among the candidates that Summers beat out for the position is former West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who reportedly interviewed for the opening. Summers is a native of Columbus, Ohio, so this also marks a return to his home state.

Missouri will now begin the process of looking for a new assistant coach to add to its staff to fill the void left behind by Summers’ departure. The Tigers have made the NCAA Tournament twice so far in three seasons under Gates.