The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) head men’s basketball coach Kahil Fennell announced on Aug. 19 the hiring of Anthony Wilkins, who spent last season as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, as an assistant coach.
Wilkins was an assistant coach under 2022-23 SEC Coach of the Year Jerry Stackhouse. Wilkins has spent over 10 years developing student-athletes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), American Athletic Conference, and Mid-American Conference (MAC).
Prior to joining Vanderbuilt, Wilkins spent five seasons at Georgia Tech where he spent four seasons as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach in 2022-23. Wilkins helped the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Tournament Championship in 2020-21 where they finished No. 6 in the nation in scoring, No. 2 in field goal percentage, No. 2 in three-point percentage, and had the third fewest turnovers in the ACC.
Wilkins also guided the development of Jose Alvarado, who is playing the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans, as he earned ACC Defensive Player the Year in 2020-21. He also guided Moses Wright to ACC Player of the Year honors and Michael DeVoe to All-ACC Third Team honors in 2021.
Before joining the staff at Georgia Tech, Wilkins spent five seasons at Tulane where he started out as the director of basketball operations before being promoted to assistant coach after his first season.
Wilkins was responsible for recruiting and player development. He helped put Tulane on the national recruiting scene by landing top-150 players, including Kain Harris, Kipper Nichols, and Justin Moore.
Wilkins started his coaching career at his alma mater Kent State where he spent the 2012-13 season as the director of player development, where he formulated player improvement plans, supported the coaching staff in recruiting and also mentored student-athletes.
As a player, Wilkins spent time overseas in Sweden, Ukraine, Mexico, and South Korea. Wilkins also spent two seasons in the NBA G League with the Bakersfield Jam (2007-08) and the Fort Worth Flyers and Tulsa 66ers (2005-06) and also participated in the Atlanta Hawks Vet Camp in 2005 and in the organizations summer league team in 2006.
During his time as a player at Kent State, Wilkins was a co-captain his senior season where he helped his team to an NIT appearance after posting a 22-9 record and was named the team’s defensive player of the year.
As a junior, Wilkins guided his team to the program’s only Elite Eight appearance after finishing the season with a 30-6 record.
Wilkins earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Kent State in 2013.
