STILLWATER – Oklahoma State men’s basketball has a new strength and conditioning coach as Steve Lutz has added Gavin Roberts to his staff.
Roberts has a championship-caliber pedigree as he’s spent the past eight seasons with UConn and Purdue, most recently with UConn helping win back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024 as the Director of Sports Performance.
He was in a similar role at Purdue, where he played football from 2008-11. During his coaching career with the Boilermakers, he helped them to the 2019 Elite Eight and the 2020 Big Ten title, while Lutz was an assistant coach.
Over the past eight seasons, Roberts helped oversee load management, on-court movement efficiency, performance training and recovery protocols, coaching some of the best players in college basketball. Those players included Zach Edey and Jaden Ivey at Purdue and Jordan Hawkins, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle at UConn.
"Gavin has been part of championship-level programs and understands what it takes to prepare players to perform at their best," Lutz said. "I saw that firsthand when we worked together at Purdue. He brings energy, expertise and a very intentional approach to developing athletes, and he will be a tremendous resource for our players.”
“I'm excited to be at Oklahoma State and to work alongside Coach Lutz and this staff," Roberts said. "This program has great tradition, and I'm ready to help our players build the daily standard that it takes to win."
According to the release from OSU, “Roberts' approach blends traditional strength and conditioning with sport-specific movement, recovery and performance data. His background includes the use of force plate analytics, GPS tracking, velocity-based training, readiness monitoring, sprint development and nutrition strategies designed to maximize athlete performance and longevity.”
Roberts began his coaching career as a grad assistant at Purdue during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. He then went to work with Bommarito Performances Systems, where he helped train NFL Draft prospects from 2015-16, while working with Emmanuel Ogbah, Trey Hendrickson and Ezekiel Elliott among other NFL players.
Roberts is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA.
