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Tennessee assistant basketball coach Rob Lanier named Georgia State head coach

Lanier has spent the last four seasons as associate head coach at Tennessee.

ATLANTA — Georgia State announced Friday that following a nationwide search, Tennessee Associate Head Coach Rob Lanier has been named as the Panthers next men’s basketball head coach. 

Lanier has spent the last four seasons as associate head coach at Tennessee. 

The Vols finished the 2018-19 season 31-6, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

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The season included a win over the No. 1 team in the nation and a No. 1 national ranking for the Volunteers.

Lanier also has coached in the Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big East, Atlantic 10 and MAAC. He has worked on the bench for 11 teams that advanced to NCAA Tournament play, according to the release from Georgia State

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“In Rob Lanier, we’ve hired a basketball coach who I believe will take Georgia State basketball to the next level,” President Mark Becker said. “He has vast experience coaching in some of the nation’s premier college basketball programs, and he has a deep commitment to developing players as students and athletes. Coach Lanier’s demonstrated record of recruiting top talent, including numerous all-Americans, also bodes well for the future of Panther basketball. I welcome him to Atlanta and the Georgia State family.”

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Rob and his family to the Panther Family,” Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb said. “We believe that under his leadership, our program will continue to rise as one of the premier programs in the country. He understands the core values we have at Georgia State and will help our student-athletes succeed both on the court and in the classroom.”

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“I would like to thank Georgia State President Mark Becker along with Director of Athletics Charlie Cobb for this incredible opportunity,” Lanier said. “This is a time of great transformation at Georgia State and I look forward to continuing to build on the reputation that our men’s basketball program has established nationally. I am excited to begin building relationships with the young men in this program.”

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Prior to his hiring at Tennessee in April 2015, Lanier served four seasons for Rick Barnes as the associate head coach at Texas from 2011-15. It was Lanier’s second stint on Barnes’ staff in Austin.

Known for his prowess on the recruiting trail, Lanier played a key role in the assembly and development of Tennessee’s 2016-17 recruiting class, which was responsible for 44 percent of the team’s scoring that season and finished the year as the highest-scoring crop of freshmen in program history (1,040 points). One member of that class, forward Grant Williams, went on to earn SEC Player of the Year honors as a true sophomore in 2018.

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In total, Lanier has played a role in signing nine McDonald’s All-Americans and 11 players that he either signed or coached have gone on to become NBA Draft Picks.

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Georgia State will hold a press conference and welcome reception on Tuesday at 11 a.m., in the University Club of Georgia State Stadium. The event will be open to the public.

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