The UK men’s basketball program has added Joel Justus as the director of men’s basketball analytics and Robert Harris as assistant strength and conditioning coach, head coach John Calipari announced Thursday.
Justus’ main responsibilities will include analyzing player and team performance, utilizing various stats and data to help develop efficient strategies through video.
Justus comes to UK after serving as the head coach at Davidson Day High School in Davidson, N.C., since 2012. In both years at the helm, he guided the Patriots to the Elite Eight in the state tournament.
Prior to his time at Davidson Day, Justus served as the head boys’ basketball coach at Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry, Va., from 2008-12. During his time at Woodberry Forest, he guided his team to the Virginia Prep League regular season championship in 2010, while advancing to the Virginia Prep League championship game in consecutive years, a first in more than two decades.
Justus has spent time in college basketball, as an assistant coach at Elon University from 2004-08, where he helped guide the Phoenix to a Northern Division title in 2006 and the Southern Conference championship game in 2008.
A 2004 graduate of UNC Wilmington, he helped the Seahawks as a student-athlete capture two Colonial Athletic Association titles, made three postseason appearances (NIT in 2001; NCAAs in 2002 and 2003) and was team captain his senior season.
Harris joins the program as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the men’s basketball team. He came to UK after serving as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for football at the University of Arkansas.
Prior to his stint at Arkansas, Harris worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals for three years. With the Bengals, Harris was responsible for assisting in the development of the programs and weight room operations.
He began his career as an intern with Kentucky’s football strength and conditioning program in 2009 before joining the Velocity Sports Performance staff. With Velocity, he assisted head performance coaches with workouts and assisted with development programs for NFL draft prospects.
Harris then joined Ohio State’s football program as an intern assisting with the coordinating and implementation of strength training and conditioning programs for the Buckeyes.
A member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, he is certified as a Performance Enhancement Specialist by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, as well as a USA Weightlifting Club Coach. Harris is also certified by the National Association of Speed and Explosion, as well as Functional Movement Systems.
Harris is a graduate of Kentucky State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education in 2009. He earned a master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University in Sports Administration in 2010.
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