Ryan Miller

rmiller4@thespectrum.com

Southern Utah University head coach Nick Robinson has been relieved of his duties after four years of leading the Thunderbirds, SUU officials announced Wednesday.

Robinson never had a winning season and won just five games this past year. He was just 28-90 during his time at SUU.

“I met with Nick earlier today, and after discussing the direction of the program, I communicated the decision to move toward a change in leadership for our men’s basketball program,” SUU Athletic Director Jason Butikofer said in a prepared statement. “Nick has passionately served Southern Utah University, and we are grateful for everything he has done for this program.”

The program seemed to be on the upswing heading into the 2015-16 campaign. The Thunderbirds won five of their last eight games of the 2014-15 season and were returning all five of their starters. But despite some hard-fought battles against some top tier teams early on, the SUU season never got off the ground.

The T-Birds stumbled to a 3-15 Big Sky record, good enough for the 12th seed in the Big Sky Tournament. SUU's season ended on Tuesday with an 85-80 loss to North Dakota in the first round of the conference tournament.

"I'd like to thank Southern Utah University for the opportunity to serve as head men's basketball coach the past four seasons,” Robinson said. “The support from administration, campus, the community, and the incredible student-athletes has been amazing — thank you."

Todd Okeson, who is in his third season as assistant coach, has been named interim head coach.

A national search for the next head coach will begin immediately.

Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter, @millerjryan.

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