Robert Burlingham (Nick McDevitt Camps Director) joined MTSU men's basketball as Director of Basketball Operations in the summer of 2023, reuniting with Nick McDevitt after spending the previous two seasons on the staff at McNeese State University under head coach John Aiken as the Director of Basketball Operations.
During Burlingham’s time at McNeese, the Cowboys made school history in back-to-back postseasons with a win in the Southland Conference Tournament in 2021-2022 against Northwestern State and with two wins against Texas A&M Commerce & Nicholls State in 2022-2023. Burlingham oversaw Graduate Assistants/Managers, oversaw all logistics on team travel, oversaw and monitored the team budget, aided with McNeese compliance and student services to oversee all student-athlete academic progress, and was the Camp Director for the John Aiken Basketball Camp. Burlingham aided with the growth of guard Johnathan Massie, who captured Southland Freshman of the Year in 2021-2022 while forward Christian Shumate garnered Third Team All-Southland recognition in 2021-2022 and was named Second Team All-Conference in 2022-2023.
Before McNeese, Burlingham was at Central Michigan during the 2019-2020 & 2020-2021 seasons. He worked for 2008 AP Coach of the Year Keno Davis, assisting with player development, conducted scouting reports, assisted with academic advising, and oversaw Adidas gear inventory. He also oversaw student managers, and aided with player development of David DiLeo who is the MAC all-time leading 3-point scorer as well as CMU's all-time leading 3-point shooter.
Prior to CMU, Burlingham was on the staff at West Virginia Tech following a stint at Carolina Day School for both varsity and junior varsity boys teams. It was at WVU Tech where he was the top assistant and helped guide the Golden Bears to a 30-5 record, River States Conference regular season and conference tournament champions, and advancement to the NAIA National Tournament second round, the furthest any WVU Tech team has even advanced. Under Burlingham’s development with head coach Bob Williams, the Golden Bears had three All-Conference players named in the River States Conference during the 2018-2019 season. With Burlingham coaching the guards, Guard Elisha Boone was also named on the 2018-2019 NAIA First Team All American roster while guard Brandon Shingles received NAIA All American Honorable Mention honors. Burlingham also helped oversee and focused on the Golden Bear's offense which finished the 2018-2019 season ranking second in points per game (94.8) , third in assists per game (18.1), third in 3-point field goal percentage (41.9%), and seventh in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (13.5).
To kick off his coaching career, Burlingham began as a student manager under McDevitt at UNC Asheville (2013-14) where he was in charge of film and day-to-day functions of the program while also assisting with player workouts, basketball operations and team inventory.
Burlingham then moved on to Western Carolina University where he worked under Ohio Hall of Fame Coach Larry Hunter – and current Blue Raider assistant coach Eric Wilson – as a manager (2014-16). He assisted in workouts, assisted with stats during game play, worked with film and distribution of film to opponents and the Southern Conference, assisted Director of Operations with functions of the program, and assisted with travel logistics.
After the 2016 season, Burlingham returned to McDevitt’s staff in Asheville as Assistant Director of Basketball Operations from spring until the end of the summer where he assisted with the daily functions of the program, prepared and organized summer camps, assisted with player workouts over the summer, assisted with travel reservations and logistics and organized film.
A native of Asheville, North Carolina, he earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Western Carolina in 2016 and his M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan in 2021.
Dakota LeBlanc joins the Middle Tennessee staff as a graduate assistant for the 2022-2023 season. LeBlanc has four years’ experience in coaching and developing high school basketball players. As an undergraduate at MTSU, he spent a semester under former WNBA player Bianca Hensley, who coaches the girls’ basketball team at his former high school. Last season, he was an assistant coach at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro. He helped the Stars earn runner-up in TSSAA District 7-4A.
LeBlanc earned his Bachelor’s in Leisure and Sports Management from Middle Tennessee in May 2022. LeBlanc’s family is from Detroit, Mich. LeBlanc is a Murfreesboro native and graduate of Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, TN.
Reggie Scurry joins the Middle Tennessee staff as a graduate assistant for the 2021-22 season. Scurry returns to the Murphy Center after a playing career that saw him score 540 points in two seasons as a Blue Raider.
Scurry led the 2018-19 Blue Raiders with 95 offensive rebounds and finished with the second-most points (366) and rebounds (193) on the team. After transferring from Missouri State, the Atlanta native started his MT career with back-to-back double-doubles. He started 51 of 52 games played for the Blue Raiders, averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. His 57.3 career field goal percentage ranks sixth all-time in the Middle Tennessee record book.
The Augusta, Ga., native earned his bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee in May 2020.