Quick pick: Dixie promotes Roberts to head basketball coach

Coach Tyler Roberts (far right, holding his daughter's hand) and the Dixie team pose after winning the state championship, Dixie vs. Juan Diego, 3A State Basketball Tournament, Boys Basketball, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 27, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Dixie High didn’t waste any time in getting a replacement for head basketball coach Ryan Cuff, naming Cuff’s longtime assistant, Tyler Roberts, as its new head coach Wednesday morning.

“With basketball in his blood, Coach Roberts’ competitive nature and passion for both coaching and developing young men makes him exceptionally suited for his new role as the boys varsity basketball coach at Dixie High School,” the school’s administration said in a press release Wednesday.

Roberts coached all 10 years as an assistant under Cuff (who recently accepted the head coaching position at American Fork High School), helping the program to a state championship in 2016 and an overall record of 151-87 over that time period.

As soon as Ryan got the job at Dixie, we connected and we’ve been joined at the hip ever since,” Roberts said. “I can’t thank him enough. He and I had the same vision even from day one. Our vision was to create the winning tradition that we have at Dixie. It is about the young men and being a part of their lives, and also trying to continue that winning tradition at Dixie.”

Coach Tyler Roberts poses with his son, Jordan, after Dixie won the 2015-16 boys state basketball championship | Photo courtesy Tyler Roberts

Roberts helped pioneer positive change in southern Utah’s basketball programs. Ten years ago he helped organize youth basketball programs with the goal of developing the youth of Southern Utah through a focus on skill development, mastering the fundamentals and overall basketball IQ.

“Roberts helped create a league that focused on sportsmanship and players participating in a competitive atmosphere,” reads the press release. “Through these programs he established, Roberts has helped the talent levels of basketball reach new heights in Southern Utah.”

Roberts is a hometown hero, having graduated from Dixie High as a star tennis and basketball player. He played varsity tennis for four years as well as two years of varsity basketball at Dixie. Roberts is a three-time individual tennis state champion who helped lead his team to three team state championships. After graduating from Dixie High, Roberts was a Division I collegiate athlete on scholarship for four years – two years at Utah State University and two years at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), where he was named Rookie of the Year.

He is only the third coach for Dixie basketball in the school’s rich history that also played and graduated from the school.

“I bleed Dixie blue,” said Roberts, who was in Dixie’s class of 1996. “It’s in my blood. I’ve always been a Dixie man.”

Roberts runs a landscaping company in St. George called US Landscaping. His uncle is former Dixie College coach Neil Roberts, who won a junior college National Championship in 1986.

Tyler Roberts is married (Valerie) and the couple have three children – Taylor, Jordan and Brooklyn.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

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