NMSU men’s basketball appoints Robert Guster as assistant coach

(Courtesy: NMSU Athletics)

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - Joining the Aggie men’s basketball staff for the 2023-24 season will be Assistant Coach Robert Guster, Head Coach Jason Hooten announced on Monday morning.

Coach Guster makes his way to the City of Crosses with nearly 25 years of coaching experience after spending the last seven seasons in San Marcos, Texas, at Texas State University.

“Coach Guster is someone I’ve known for over 25 years,” said Coach Hooten. “I coached against Robert when he was a very good player and then signed some of his student-athletes in the late 90s when he was a young assistant junior college coach. For the last 15 years, we have competed against each other while he was an assistant coach at UTSA and Texas State.

“I have always had a ton of respect for Robert and the job he has done no matter where he’s been. He has always won and helped build strong cultures! Robert is a person that’s about the right things both on and off the court. I am truly excited to have him and his beautiful family a part of our team as we head into CUSA.”

At Texas State, Guster served on staff under two-time Sun Belt Coach of the Year Terrence Johnson and primarily worked with the big men while also overseeing the recruitment of the Midwest, West Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

In seven seasons with the Bobcats, Guster was influential in helping the program compile four 20-plus win campaigns, including helping lead Texas State to back-to-back Sun Belt Conference championships in 2021 and 2022.

The 2022 title also set up the Bobcats for the program’s first-ever appearance in the National Invitation Tournament.

Additionally, Guster helped administer one of the best defensive attacks in the country as the Bobcats led the Sun Belt in scoring defense five of the seven years that he coached at Texas State while also ranking inside the top 30 in the nation in scoring defense three times.

With Guster’s direction, the Bobcats also led the Sun Belt in rebounds per game in 2018-19 and in field goal percentage in 2021-22.

Guster also assisted in coaching the 2019-20 Sun Belt Player of the Year and 2019-20 Lou Henson All-America Team honoree.

Prior to joining Texas State, Guster was an assistant at the University of Texas at San Antonio for 10 years.

In the decade he spent in San Antonio, Guster helped with recruiting duties, academics, scheduling and on-the-floor coaching. Guster’s postseason pedigree began at UTSA when he helped guide the Roadrunners to their first-ever NCAA postseason victory in any sport when UTSA defeated Alabama State in the First Four of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

UTSA also captured one league championship, made two conference tournament title game appearances, broke 20 school records and had eight players earn all-conference honors, including three freshmen of the year selections.

Guster’s assignment at UTSA came following a two-year stint at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where he served as an assistant coach under head coach Gary Garner. While at SEMO, he was heavily involved in the Redhawks’ recruiting efforts and oversaw the program’s academic affairs.

Before contributing his efforts to the success of SEMO, Guster spent five years as an assistant at West Plains Community College where he got his start in coaching.

From 1999-2004, West Plains posted a 120-36 record while ten players that Guster directly recruited went on to earn opportunities at the Division I level.

Prior to joining the West Plains coaching staff, Guster was the Grizzlies’ starting point guard for two seasons before moving on to finish his collegiate career as a starter at Missouri-Rolla, now known as Missouri S&T. At Missouri-Rolla, Guster helped the Miners post back-to-back winning seasons while leading the team in assists both seasons and pacing the MIAA Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Guster is a native of West Monroe, La., and earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Missouri-Rolla in 1999. He later received his master’s degree in elementary education from Missouri State in 2002.

He and his wife, Melissa, have one daughter, Alivia, and a son, Shiloh.