Keith Wilkinson

Keith Wilkinson joined the UC Riverside Men's Basketball staff as an assistant coach in August of 2013 following three years with the University of Texas El Paso as the men's basketball team's director of basketball operations.

During the 2013-14 campaign, the Highlanders nearly doubled their win total from the previous year earning the eight seed in the Big West Conference Tournament. UC Riverside averaged 70.9 points per game that season in conference play—the highest average since the Highlanders joined the Big West, and 11.1 points more per game than the team averaged the year prior.
 
In the 2014-15 campaign, the Highlanders won the second most games in the Division I history of the program, and the second most conference games as well. They earned the sixth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament.

UC Riverside had a first team All-Conference player in Taylor Johns as well as Newcomer of the Year and second team All-Conference player in Jaylen Bland. Johns and Bland were the highest scoring duo in UC Riverside's Division I history.
 
In 2015-16, UC Riverside continued to build upon its success by yet again posting the second most wins in the program's Division I, while recording the most road wins and non-conference wins during that time. The Highlanders also earned the sixth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament for the second year in a row.

UCR broke several school Division I-era records during the year including highest scoring average, most assists, most three pointers made and most rebounds. A number of those marks are the highest in the program in more than a quarter century including the most assists and most three pointers since the 1988-89 campaign. UC Riverside's rebound figure was the highest since the 1994-95 season.

The Highlanders also won at Hawaii for the first time in their Big West history. Jaylen Bland finished third in the entire country in made three pointers (118) and earned Second Team All-Conference honors, while Secean Johnson earned Honorable Mention All-Conference accolades.

The 2016-17 season saw the debut of freshman Dikymbe Martin, who became the first freshman on the squad to earn All-Conference accolades since Rickey Porter earned Second Team honors in 2005-06.
 
Wilkinson played at USC for four seasons under Coach Tim Floyd (2005-09) where he appeared in 113 games, scored 234 points and grabbed 258 rebounds. He helped USC to 85 wins, including a school-record 25 during the 2006-07 season, along with three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament (2007-09). Wilkinson's favorite basketball moments are advancing to the Sweet 16 in the 2006-2007 season after beating Kevin Durant’s Texas team 87-68, and winning the Pac-10 Tournament championship in 2008-2009 at the Staples Center against James Harden’s Arizona State team.
 
While at USC Wilkinson played with six future NBA players - DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors), Taj Gibson (Chicago Bulls), O.J. Mayo (Milwaukee Bucks), Gabe Pruitt (Boston Celtics), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic) and Nick Young (Los Angeles Lakers).
 
He received his bachelor's degree in communications from USC in 2009. Upon graduation, he played professionally in Ukraine for Kryvbasbasket in 2009-10.
 
Keith started his coaching career in El Paso, Texas with his former head coach Tim Floyd. While working at UTEP Keith was in charge of academics, worked in conjunction with the coaching staff, support staff, Miner Legend team, compliance office, sports information office and facilities department on a daily basis to ensure that all team-related functions are accomplished in a timely manner. He coordinated with equipment coordinators to supply the team with the equipment and apparel needed for each season, while also managing the logistics associated with a basketball program.
 
A native of Mission Viejo, California, Wilkinson averaged 16 points and eight rebounds as a senior at Capistrano Valley High School where he played for Coach Brian Mulligan. His father, Jerry, is 6-9 and played for the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.