Robert McCullum joined the UCF staff as an assistant coach in July 2009. He brings seven years of head coaching experience to his new position.
From 2003-07, he served as the head coach at USF, helping the Bulls transition from Conference USA to the BIG EAST. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Western Michigan for three years.
During McCullum[apos]s tenure at USF, the Bulls recorded four victories over nationally-ranked opponents. In his second year in Tampa, McCullum guided USF to the 2005 C-USA Championship semifinals after the squad defeated Houston and 20th-ranked Cincinnati. The following year, the Bulls moved to the BIG EAST and concluded the season with a win over No. 20 Georgetown. In 2007-08, McCullum[apos]s team registered wins over Wake Forest and No. 21 Notre Dame.
McCullum helped Solomon Jones and Kentrell Gransberry develop into two of the top post players in the BIG EAST. Jones was selected by Atlanta with the 33rd overall pick of the 2006 National Basketball Association Draft. The following year, Gransberry led the conference in rebounding and was an All-BIG EAST Second Team pick.
Off the court, McCullum[apos]s USF teams excelled in the classroom. In 2003-04, the Bulls received the C-USA men[apos]s basketball academic award for having the top grade point average of any league program. Eight of the 10 student-athletes that he recruited at USF graduated.
McCullum came to USF after three campaigns as the head coach at Western Michigan (2000-03). In his final season with the Broncos, he guided Western Michigan to a 20-11 mark and a berth in the postseason National Invitation Tournament. The 20-win season was just the fourth in program history and the Broncos postseason berth was also the school[apos]s fourth in 89 years.
In 2001-02, the Broncos went 17-13, an improvement of 10 victories from the previous year. The turnaround was the seventh-best in the country that season. During McCullum[apos]s time at Western Michigan, the Broncos registered two wins over Michigan and also defeated Auburn.
After joining the UCF staff, McCullum was reunited with head coach Kirk Speraw. McCullum served as an assistant under Lon Kruger at Florida from 1990-96, and Speraw was on the Gators[apos] staff for three years during his tenure. In 1994, McCullum helped Florida reach the Final Four. Current UCF assistant Craig Brown was a student-athlete on that Florida squad.
McCullum moved with Kruger to Illinois and was on the Illini staff from 1996-00. Illinois made three NCAA Tournament appearances during that span. In 1997-98, the Illini claimed the Big Ten regular-season title. While at Illinois, McCullum helped secure one top-10 and one top-20 rated recruiting class for the Illini.
In 1982, McCullum began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at South Alabama. He also has experience as an assistant at Samford, Southern Illinois, Kansas State and San Francisco.
In 2007, McCullum was named the head coach of the Nigerian Senior Men[apos]s National Team. That year, he led Nigeria to a 4-1 record at the All-Africa Games.
McCullum, and his wife Cheryl, have two children - Richelle and Rashid.