Former IU basketball player and assistant coach Mike Roberts has been named as an assistant coach for the UTEP men’s basketball team, head coach Joe Golding announced Friday. Roberts most recently coached at Cincinnati from 2021-23.
He also previously held full-time coaching positions at Indiana (2019-21), UNC Greensboro (2012-19), Rice (2008-12) and Cal (2007-08). Roberts entered the coaching profession as a graduate assistant under the late Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Knight at Texas Tech (2005-06) before serving as a video coordinator at Cal (2006-07). Roberts played at Indiana from 2000-05, including being on the 2002 NCAA Tournament runner-up team.
“I am very excited to welcome Mike Roberts to the Borderland as a member of our coaching staff. From day one here at UTEP I have committed to identifying high character men to coach and mentor our student-athletes, and we have found that in Mike,” Golding said. “On the court, we are gaining a wealth of basketball knowledge that has played and coached at the highest levels of college basketball under the tutelage of more than one of the great coaches of our time. Our program will benefit from his vast amount of experience and knowledge of the game, and we could not be any more excited that he has chosen to be a part of Miner Basketball.”
Roberts played under Mike Davis before working for some well-known names in the industry. The list includes Knight, Ben Braun, Archie Miller and Wes Miller. He has coached four post players (Ryan Anderson, Cal, DeVon Hardin, Cal, Arsalan Kazemi, Rice and Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana) who went on to be drafted into the NBA.
Most recently at UC, Roberts helped the Bearcats produce back-to-back 20-win seasons while reaching the quarterfinals of the NIT in both years. The team’s 41 victories helped Wes Miller tie the program record for most triumphs in the first two campaigns for a new head coach. He coached the post players, was responsible for game scheduling and supervised academics.
He helped the Hoosiers go 20-12 in 2019-20, with the program set to return to the NCAA Tournament before COVID-19 hit. A key to that success was the squad’s improvement on defense, which vaulted to 26th nationally in adjusted defense according to KenPom. His work aided the team to thrive in the classroom, where it finished with a perfect APR in 2018-19 and a 3.398 GPA in the spring semester. Roberts was a part of the staff that attracted the No. 13 recruiting class in 2020 and served as position coach for third-team All-American Jackson-Davis.
When Archie Miller was fired in 2021, Roberts played a key role for Indiana, ensuring a smooth transition before Mike Woodson was hired.
Roberts was an associate head coach at UNCG from 2012-19 where the program achieved plenty, including securing the first NCAA Tournament bid (2018) in 17 years. The Spartans gave No. 3 seed and eventual Sweet 16 participant Gonzaga a scare in the first round before succumbing, 68-64. Earlier that year, UNCG bested NC State to secure the school’s first win over one of North Carolina’s four ACC programs. The squad also set a school record for wins (25) in 2016-17 on the way to being the SoCon regular-season champions and earning a spot in the NIT. The Spartans proceeded to best that standard in both 2017-18 (27) and 2018-19 (28), reaching the postseason in each. Furthermore, the team posted the first postseason win in program history in 2015-16.
During his tenure with Rice, the Owls finished with a winning record in 2011-12 to lock up the school’s initial winning season in seven years. The Owls piled up 19 total victories, including a pair in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, marking the first postseason win by Rice since 1993. As a recruiter, he helped the Owls compile a top-10 class among mid-major programs in 2009 according to both ESPN and Rivals.com. He also coached a post player who was picked in the NBA Draft.
Roberts’s first full-time assistant coaching position was at Cal where the team finished 17-16. He recruited players who went on to compete in back-to-back NCAA tournaments. Two post players he coached were drafted in the NBA. Furthermore, under his supervision, it achieved the top GPA by the squad in 10 years. He was the video coordinator in his first year with the Bears (2006-07).
He broke into coaching by using his Indiana ties to land a coveted graduate assistant position under Knight. He aided in practices and workouts, conducted recruit mailings and video exchange while also supervising academics.
Roberts played at IU where he helped the team forge a combined record of 96-67. The Hoosiers appeared in three NCAA Tournaments, including making the championship contest in 2002. He also captained the 2004-05 unit.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana in 2005 and a master’s degree from Texas Tech in 2006.
