Will Robinson
From Hoopedia
William J. "Will" Robinson (June 3, 1911 – April 28, 2008) was an American college basketball coach and scout. Robinson became the first African-American head coach in NCAA Division I history when he accepted the position at Illinois State University in 1970.
Robinson was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina, and attended Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio, where he quarterbacked the football team and played on the golf team. Robinson led his football team to an undefeated, unscored upon season, and finished second in the state golf tournament despite not being allowed on the course with the white players. He was also the captain of the both the golf and football teams and also played baseball and ran track, the only player in state history to letter in five sports. Robinson lettered in four sports at West Virginia State University, graduating in 1937.
After graduating from West Virginia State Robinson was unable to find a job, and sought a master's degree. Because of segregation in West Virginia, Robinson was forced to attend graduate school at the University of Michigan, earning a master's in physical education.[1] After finishing graduate school, Robinson still could not find a job, and returned to Steubenville, and later began coaching at a YMCA in nearby Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He also coached YMCA basketball in Chicago, winning several city championships.
Robinson's YMCA success got him his first high school coaching job at DuSable High School in Chicago. In 1943, Robinson was selected to take the head coaching position at Miller High School in Detroit. He was chosen as the person to calm an uneasy racial situation due to race riots in the city the previous summer. Robinson was the only black coach in Detroit for the next sixteen years. Robinson left Miller High and later went to Pershing High School in Detroit, where he won the state title in 1967 with a team led by Spencer Haywood, Ralph Simpson, Glen Doughty, Paul Seal, and Marvin Lane. He also coached Mel Daniels, Big Daddy Lipscomb and Ted Sizemore at the high school level. As a high school coach Robinson enabled more than 300 students to attend college, and organized coaching clinics for black coaches in the south, recruiting staff members of the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers to provide instruction.
As a result of his efforts at the coaching clinics, Lions coach Buddy Parker hired Robinson as the first black scout in the NFL. As a scout Robinson discovered NFL Hall of Famers Charlie Sanders and Lem Barney.
In 1970 Robinson was hired as the head coach at Illinois State University, making him the first black coach in NCAA Division I basketball. He compiled a record of 78-51 from 1970-75, his best player during that time being Doug Collins, the school's only consensus All-American and the #1 pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. In 2003 Robinson received a lifetime achievement award from the Missouri Valley Conference.
Will Robinson retired from Illinois State in 1975, and accepted a position as a scout for the Detroit Pistons in 1976. Robinson was responsible for discovering Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, key members of the Pistons' NBA championship teams in 1989 and 1990. Robinson was actually offered the Pistons head coaching position by general manager Jack McCloskey, who gave the job to Chuck Daly instead. Robinson retired from the Pistons in 2003, and during the 2003-04 NBA season the Pistons named their locker room "Will Robinson Locker Room of Champions." The Pistons won their third NBA title that season.
Will Robinson is a member of the West Virginia State University Hall of Fame.
Robinson died on April 28, 2008 in a Harper Woods, Michigan nursing home at the age of 96.
