Mike Roberts is in his first season as associate head coach on UNCG coach Wes Miller's staff.

Roberts came to UNCG after four years as an assistant coach at Rice under head coach Ben Braun. Roberts also served two years on Braun’s staff at California from 2006-08.

“Wes is someone that I have known and respected for more than 10 years,” Roberts said. “My family and I are excited about joining the UNCG community and helping build upon the success that coach Miller and the team had last season. I am also very grateful to all of the former coaches and bosses that helped put me in position for this opportunity.”

The Owls improved in each of the last three seasons with Roberts on staff, culminating in a 19-16 record in 2011-12, the program’s first winning season since 2005. The 19 wins were also a program high since the 2004-05 campaign.

Rice participated in the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, winning two games to reach the CIT quarterfinals. A first-round win over Louisiana-Lafayette marked the Owls’ first postseason win since a first-round victory in the 1993 NIT.

Roberts coached Rice’s post players and was the academic supervisor to seven Conference USA All-Academic recipients. In 2011, Rice received C-USA’s Sport Academic Award, which is given annually to the team with the highest grade point average for each conference-sponsored sport.

Roberts also supervised academics at Cal, helping the squad post its best team GPA in 10 years. Prior to becoming an assistant on the Bears’ staff, Roberts was the team’s video coordinator for the 2006-07 season.

The Terre Haute, Ind., native spent a year as a graduate assistant coach at Texas Tech under Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight after wrapping up his playing career at Indiana. The 2005 graduate helped the Hoosiers to three NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT berth and was a member of IU’s 2002 NCAA runner-up squad. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection and earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award in 2005, when he was a team captain.

“I am thrilled that Mike Roberts, his wife, Janet, and his son, Paxton, have joined our basketball family,” Miller said upon hiring Roberts. “Mike has tremendous experience and knowledge of the game of basketball. He played and worked under a Hall of Fame coach in Bob Knight and has coached and developed successful teams at Cal and Rice. He will be a valuable asset to the program because of his experience, perspective and ability to develop post players. We are extremely fortunate to have Mike at UNCG.”