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NBA draft prospect Liam Robbins has several relatives, but he is closer to his uncle, Ed Conroy than anyone else. Like Robbins, Conroy’s career revolves around basketball. Conroy is The Citadel Bulldogs’ head coach after landing the position in 2022.
Conroy started his career as an assistant at North Carolina State in 1990 and gradually moved up the ranks over the last three decades. He served as an assistant at VMI, Furman, Francis Marion, Tulsa, Tennessee and Coastal Carolina. Conroy was the head coach at The Citadel from 2006 until 2010. He was then the head coach at Tulane from 2010-16.
In the 2008-09 season, he helped the Bulldogs register 20 wins, the best record in 30 years. Consequently, he was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year and was voted as the Skip Prosser of the Year.
In mid-2016, he joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers as an assistant but left after three seasons. In 2021, he was hired by Vanderbilt to take the associate head caoch position. After one season, Conroy returned to The Citadel as head coach towards the end of 2022.
Robbins’ bond with Conroy
As expected, Robbins sees Conroy as a coach, an uncle and a father figure. Therefore, the athlete is more comfortable playing on a team coached by his uncle than in any other program.
This is evident in his choice of schools after graduating from high school. In his junior season, Robbins transferred to Minnesota because his uncle was the program’s assistant coach. On Jan. 3, 2021, he registered 27 points, five blocks and 14 rebounds in a 77-60 win over Ohio State, being named the Big Ten’s player of the week. As a junior, he averaged 6.6 rebounds and 11.7 points per game.
In 2021, the Vanderbilt Commodores hired Ed Conroy as an associate head coach. Robbins also transferred to the program to maintain his bond with his uncle. However, the guard missed several games at the beginning of the 2021-22 season. He still managed to average 6.8 points, 2.0 blocks and 4.0 rebounds.
On March 2, 2023, Robbins suffered a season-ending leg injury. Nevertheless, he was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
