Les Robinson (born September 23, 1942) is an American former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

, and

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

. He is a member of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Hall of Fame and the only person to have been both Head Basketball Coach and Athletic Director at 3 different Division I colleges.

Coaching career

A native of St. Albans, West Virginia, Robinson graduated in 1965 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in parks and recreation and

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

from

where he played basketball then served as a student assistant coach and graduate assistant coach under Head Coaches

Everett Case Everett Norris Case (June 21, 1900 – April 30, 1966), nicknamed the "Old Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University, from 1946 to 1964. Early life and career Born in Anderson, Indiana, Ca ...

and

Press Maravich Peter "Press" Maravich (August 29, 1915 – April 15, 1987) was an American college and professional basketball coach. He received the nickname "Press" as a boy, when one of his jobs was selling the '' Pittsburgh Press'' on the streets of his hom ...

. From there, he was the head basketball coach and athletic director at Cedar Key School in

Cedar Key, Florida Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, Levy County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 687, down from 702 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Gainesville, Florida Gainesville met ...

, for two years. In 1968 he returned to graduate school, serving as an assistant coach at

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU ...

where he also received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in physical education and guidance counseling. After one year at Western Carolina, Robinson moved to The Citadel as an assistant coach. He served in that role for five years before taking over the program in 1974–75. He coached at The Citadel for 11 seasons. Although he only managed a .500-or-better record five times and finished as high as third in

play only twice, his 132 wins were the most in school history before Pat Dennis passed him in 2004 with his 133rd win; his 1978-79 team was the first in school history to win 20 games and he coached the Bulldogs to a record 23 consecutive home wins. He was twice named

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Coach of the Year and was a two-time

Coach of the Year; he was inducted into The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. In 1985 Robinson became

's men's head basketball coach and athletic director. Under his guidance, ETSU won the 1989 and 1990 Southern Conference championships, playing in NCAA tournament both years. In 1990 Robinson was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year and Tennessee Coach of the Year. In 1989, Robinson served as an assistant coach for the U.S. World Championship qualifying team in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He also coached the South team to a Bronze medal in the 1993 Olympic Festival in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. Robinson returned to his alma mater in 1990 after

Jim Valvano James Thomas Anthony Valvano (March 10, 1946 – April 28, 1993), nicknamed Jimmy V, was an American college basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. Valvano had a successful coaching career with multiple schools, culminating at NC State. Whi ...

was forced out in the wake of an NCAA investigation. He was the 1991 District Coach of the Year as selected by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

(NABC) after leading NC State to a 20-11 record in the first season. Robinson is one of only two first-year coaches in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

history to win 20 games, post a winning regular season conference record, and win games in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. However, a year earlier, NC State self-imposed a limit of only 12 total scholarships for 1990-91 and 1991-92 as part of an investigation into misconduct under Valvano. The scholarship reductions took their full effect in Robinson's second season, and the team plummeted into the ACC's second division for the next five years. The low point of Robinson's tenure in Raleigh came during the 1992-93 season. Due to injuries and academic-related suspensions, Robinson was only able to dress seven players for most of conference play. They ultimately finished 8-19, the worst record in modern Wolfpack history. In 1992, the ACC Tournament was expanded because of the addition of Florida State. A play-in game between the eighth and ninth place teams was created, and during his five years as the N.C. State coach after its addition, Robinson's Wolfpack played in the play-in game four out of five times (finishing seventh in 1992 and avoiding the game). Because of his team's traditional appearance in the Thursday night game, the game was referred to as the "Les Robinson Invitational" by ACC fans. The play-in game was discontinued when the ACC expanded to include Miami and Virginia Tech, and required three Thursday games. Robinson would stay on as head coach through the 1995-96 season. Although he never won nearly as many games as his predecessors, his stint went a long way towards cleansing the image of the program to both insiders and outsiders. Robinson was appointed NC State's athletic director in 1996 and stepped down as head coach. He left to become The Citadel's athletic director in 2000. On January 25, 2008, he announced he would retire at the end of the school year, effective June 30. In 2016 Robinson briefly served as interim athletic director at

Lander University Lander University is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national u ...

Greenwood, South Carolina Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, South Carolina. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 22,545 down from 23,222 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Lander University. History In 1823 John McG ...

; he currently works for the Grinalds Group which provides guidance and advice to college administrators. He is an honorary member of the Alumni Associations of The Citadel and East Tennessee State and was inducted into the

South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame The South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North ...

in 2011.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Coaching record @ sports-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Les 1942 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from West Virginia Basketball players from West Virginia College men's basketball head coaches in the United States East Tennessee State Buccaneers athletic directors East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States NC State Wolfpack athletic directors NC State Wolfpack men's basketball coaches NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players People from St. Albans, West Virginia The Citadel Bulldogs athletic directors The Citadel Bulldogs basketball coaches Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Kanawha County, West Virginia 20th-century American sportsmen