Mannie Robinson enters his third season on staff at Illinois State in 2025-2026.
Illinois State earned a fifth-straight postseason appearance and a third straight 20-win season in 2024-25, advancing to the WNIT Fab 4. Illinois State posted a 24-13 record and a 14-6 mark in MVC play, earning the program's fourth WNIT bid over the last four seasons.
The Redbirds posted an historic 2024-25 campaign on the offensive end of the floor. Illinois State ranked fourth in NCAA Division I and led the MVC with a 48.8 percent team field goal percentage, a mark that ranks third in program history. The Redbirds also ranked fourth in NCAA DI shooting 38.5 percent from behind the arc, leading the Valley and ranking third in program history. The Redbirds set a program record with 252 total three pointers. Illinois State ranked 32nd in NCAA DI averaging 76.0 points per game and scored a mark of 2,812 total points during the 2024-25 campaign that set a program record and ranks fourth in MVC history.
The Redbirds earned their fourth-straight postseason appearance and second-straight 20-win season in 2023-2024. Illinois State finished with a 22-12 overall record and 13-7 mark in MVC play while earning a WNIT bid for the third time in the last four seasons. The Redbirds advanced in the post season for the first time since 2013 with a Second-Round WNIT win over Charleston at CEFCU Arena, where the Redbirds hosted postseason basketball for the first time since 2013.
Robinson joined Redbird women's basketball as an Assistant Coach in May of 2023 after spending one season as Assistant Coach at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy (UHSP) in St. Louis where he helped the program reach a postseason conference berth. At UHSP, Robinson played a vital role in player development, recruiting, advanced analytics and game scouting. Under his direction, the Eutectics produced one All-Conference, Champions of character, and conference assist leader.
A highly touted baseball pitcher and basketball player out of Chicago, Robinson helped lead Morgan Park High School to two back-to-back IHSA state championships. From there, he accepted a basketball scholarship to play for Lincoln College where he became a JUCO All-American before transferring to Western Illinois University.
After a short stint at Western Illinois, Robinson transferred to Talladega College and led his team to a NAIA National tournament berth. Robinson graduated with a Bachelor's degree in biology medical sciences in 2019 before moving on to play semi-pro for the Illinois Vipers.
After his playing days, he then began coaching at Rich Central High School in, Olympia Fields, IL as a player development coach. After coaching at Rich Central, Robinson then became an assistant coach for East St. Louis High School where he helped lead them to a 28-6 overall record and undefeated conference record (11-0).
Robinson and fellow Redbird Assistant Coach Katrina Beck have a one-year-old boy, Tatum, born in December of 2023.
