Arizona announced the retirement of men's assistant basketball coach Steve Robinson after a 42-year career. Robinson was an assistant at Arizona for the first four seasons under Tommy Lloyd, beginning in 2021. Before coming to Arizona, Robinson was an assistant at North Carolina under Roy Williams from 2003-2021.
Robinson was an assistant for Williams during the entirety of his tenure at North Carolina and spent two stints at Kansas under Williams. Before becoming a coach, Robinson played from 1978 through 1980 at what was then Ferrum Junior College and in 1980-81 at Radford.
Robinson began his coaching career at Radford in 1983 and remained there until 1986. Mike Dement hired Robinson as an assistant on his inaugural staff at Cornell in 1986 and remained there through 1988. Robinson was on the staff at Cornell when they lost 90-50 to Arizona in the first round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament.
Williams hired Robinson to be on his inaugural staff at Kansas in 1988. Robinson remained on the Kansas staff through 1995, when he was hired to be the head coach at Tulsa. Tulsa was 46-18 in two seasons under Robinson. The Golden Hurricane lost in the 1995 NCAA Tournament first round in their inaugural season under Robinson.
Robinson left Tulsa for Florida State in 1997. Florida State upset fifth-seeded TCU as the 12 seed in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament before losing to Valparaiso in overtime in the second round. Florida State finished 18-14 in their first season under Robinson. That was the only winning season Robinson had at Florida State.
Robinson was fired after a 64–86 record in five seasons at Florida State in March 2002. Williams rehired Robinson for his Kansas staff in 2002. When Williams was hired as the head coach at North Carolina, Robinson joined his staff in Chapel Hill.
Lloyd and Robinson both issued statements on the official Arizona release announcing the retirement. Lloyd thanked Robinson for his assistance in helping a first-time head coach. Robinson mentioned he felt this was the right time for him to retire.