NEMCC Names New AD

Robbins

BOONEVILLE, Miss. –After nearly a decade serving as Northeast Mississippi Community College’s head men’s basketball coach, David Robbins’ role is changing.

Northeast President Dr. Johnny L. Allen, Ed.D., announced recently that Robbins would become the college’s new dean of students/athletic director, a position vacated when Ricky Ford was named executive vice president to replace Dr. Larry Nabors, current president at Mississippi Delta Community College.

Robbins came to Northeast in the spring of 2005 after successfully leading the Corinth High School basketball program and also serving as the high school’s athletic director.

When Robbins accepted the position of men’s basketball coach at Northeast in the spring of 2005, he enthusiastically accepted the challenge of returning the tradition-rich program to a place of prominence in the state and nation.

With an emphasis on doing things the right way on and off the floor, the Tigers (15-9) recorded their first winning season since the 1999-2000 season.

After stumbling in 2006-07 with nine freshmen and only four sophomores on the court, Robbins and company burst onto the MACJC scene in 2007-08.

The Tigers went 15-10, 7-5 during the regular season and captured a runner-up finish in the MACJC North Division.

After making semifinal runs in the State and Region 23 tournament, Robbins led the 2008-09 Tiger basketball team to a 12-13 record, and the 2009-10 team to a 12-11, 7-5 record.

On the hardwood in 2010-11, David Robbins led the Tiger basketball team to appearances in the MACJC State Tournament and the NJCAA Region XXIII Tournament after finishing as the North Division runner-up with a 7-5 mark in the North Division and an 11-14 mark overall.

The Tigers found the same opponent awaiting them in both the state and region tournaments – 19th-ranked Pearl River Community College – and the Tigers gave the Wildcats a run in the state tournament before falling in overtime 92-83.

During the 2011-12 season, Northeast started the season strong and posted a 7-1 mark at the Christmas holiday break and carried a 10-2 overall record into the January 18, 2012 NJCAA Top 20 poll where the Tigers were ranked thirteenth in the nation. Northeast continued to build on its early success and finished the year with a 14-9 mark and tied for fourth in the North Division but lost out on a tiebreaker with Itawamba for a spot in the MACJC State Basketball Tournament.

Entering the 2012-13 season, Robbins stood just five wins away from career win No. 400 and has a career record of 395-235 on the high school and collegiate level.

Before returning to his alma mater, Robbins spent 14 seasons as head boy’s basketball coach at Corinth High School.

During that time, Robbins led the Warriors to a 310-147 overall record, including four 30-win seasons, eight 20-win seasons, nine Alcorn County championships (seven straight from ’99-’05), three NorthHalf titles and three State Championship trophies.

Robbins’ teams appeared in five State Tournaments and eight North Half Tournaments en route to a 44-15 record in post season play, a .745 winning percentage.

In only his second season at CHS, Robbins guided the Warriors to the State Championship and a 36-5 overall mark, a school record for wins in a season. He became the winningest coach in Warrior history with win number 267 in 2003 and picked up win number 300 with a 50-46 victory over Ripley on Jan. 11, 2005

Robbins was named the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003, and was selected to coach in the 2002 North/South All-Star Game.

Initially, Robbins also served as a physical education instructor, but left the classroom to become athletic director in 2002. As athletic director, Robbins supervised every aspect of the athletic programs at Corinth high and junior high schools.

A Tippah County native, Blue Mountain High School graduate and former basketball player and team captain at Northeast Mississippi Junior College, Robbins worked at Northeast, assisting both former men’s basketball coach Harvey Childers and women’s basketball coach Ricky Ford (1987-89).

His duties included on-the-floor coaching and recruiting in-district as well as out-of-state players. Robbins also worked as an assistant director of student activities at Northeast (1987-1991).

Robbins earned an Associate in Arts Degree from Northeast in 1985, a Bachelor of Science degree from Millsaps College in 1987 and a master’s degree from Mississippi College in 1989.

Robbins played two seasons for the Millsaps Majors and was selected the 1987 team captain.

David and his wife Pam have three children, Brandon, Mary Beth, and Brody.