Roberts's first coaching opportunity came when
Jack Curran hired him as coach of the freshman team at
Archbishop Molloy High School. In 1991 Roberts became head coach at
Queens College, a position he held until 1995. Prior to the 1996–97 season, Roberts was hired by then-
Oral Roberts head coach
Bill Self. Roberts followed Self to the
University of Tulsa (in 1998),
University of Illinois (in 2000) and
University of Kansas (in 2003). On April 13, 2004, he signed a five-year contract to coach the men's basketball team at St. John's University. His assistants included
Glenn Braica,
Chris Casey, and Fred Quartlebaum. In April 2012 Roberts returned to the
University of Kansas as an assistant coach, filling the position left by
Danny Manning.
St. John's On April 13, 2004, Roberts signed a five-year contract to coach the men's basketball team at St. John's University. Although Roberts was thought of as a longshot, school officials were impressed by his work as Self's top recruiter over the past four years. Additionally, he was a New York City native, and it was hoped he would rebuild the Red Storm's traditional pipeline to the area's rich pool of high school basketball players. Historically, St. John's has been known for fielding powerhouse teams built mainly on New York City talent. He succeeded
Kevin Clark, who served as the interim coach after
Mike Jarvis, who was fired midway through the 2003–04 season. Roberts was fired by St. John's on March 19, 2010, after the Red Storm lost in the first round of the 2010 NIT. In 2011, Florida coach
Billy Donovan hired Roberts as an assistant coach.
Florida Roberts served as an assistant coach for
Florida for one season.
Kansas Roberts was hired by
Kansas in 2012 as an assistant. He won his first national championship in the
2021–22 season. The following season, while head coach
Bill Self served a 4-game suspension for recruiting violations, he served as acting head coach. He went 4–0 in the games he was acting head coach. Later that season, after Self was hospitalized, Roberts also coached the Jayhawks in the
2023 Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament due to Self's health issues. On May 5 2025, Roberts announced his retirement after 37 years of coaching, including 14 with Kansas. ==Family==