UMKC Hall Of Fame Spotlight - David Robinson
1/18/2011 7:00:00 PM | General, Athletics
by Dan Stroud
Since graduation from UMKC, it seems as if 2010 Hall of Fame Inductee David Robinson has come full circle. The former basketball great had the privilege of playing the game he loves north of the (U.S.) border, in the Far East, in and around Europe, along the Western Pacific corridor, and even had time to sink a few shots down under.
Because of his extensive time away, not to mention the number of players that had rolled through the Kangaroo program, he was a bit surprised about the honor. “I am quite humbled by this honor,” he said. “It really kind of snuck up on me.”
Robinson says he regrets not one minute of his time abroad. “I never had any of the bad experiences others have claimed,” he said. “If you don't learn to participate, you end up hating things, and that was not an issue in my life.”
At the start of his professional basketball life in the 1990's, Robinson became the first player taken overall in the Global Basketball Association. He was selected by the Mississippi Coast Sharks. Later that summer, he played some ball with the Miami Tropics of the United States Basketball League (USBL), which turned out to be coached by John Lucas, a National Basketball Association Hall-of-Famer himself.
The next year he tried out for the Los Angeles Clippers, but despite being unable to crack their roster, ended up with an opportunity to play for a team in Hong Kong. While there, the versatile big man played in a tournament with the squad in the Philippines. After that short stint, he then played for a Canadian team in Montreal, and then on to Australia for a year.
From there, it was off to France, Germany, and Greece for a period of 12 years. Ten of those years were spent in France with one year each in the other two European countries.
Robinson lamented that while overseas he largely lost track of the daily happenings state-side. He said that he and teammates would sometimes read USA Today, which they jokingly renamed to be the USA Yesterday, as things would have happened the day before by the time it was read over there.
On returning in 2006 to his hometown in Joplin, Missouri, the nearly seven foot tall, center/forward found that his professional marketability needed fine tuning. “It's easy to forget that the internet was not prominent when I finished school,” he said.
Because of this, Robinson sees the ensuing honor as a real boon for the future. “Having been away for so long, this really affords me the ability to reconnect in the UMKC community,” he said. “It's amazing to see just how far Tim (Hall) and his staff have moved the program forward. I'm really excited about hopefully becoming an integral part of future improvement as well. I want to step forward and become someone who helps make a real difference at this great university.”
But Robinson said coming to UMKC in the first place took some work between his high school coach Phil Lewis and then UMKC Coach and Hall-of-Famer Lee Hunt.
He finished his high school career early with a broken collarbone in the middle of his senior year. Several Big Eight schools, along with Vanderbilt, had recruited him hard until the injury and afterwards backed away from him. His dream of playing Division I basketball seemed to be fading.
Then coach Lewis stepped up, talked with Coach Hunt, and I was on my way,” Robinson said. “And you know, in hindsight, Coach Hunt was the perfect coach for me and the perfect person to build that program.” Highlights of his playing days include competing against Mitch Richmond (K-State) and Byron Houston (Oklahoma State).
Talking about his college days brought back great memories about the time spent on campus. One professor he had while taking a course in statistics had a rather ironic name and always stuck with Robinson. “What is the probability that your statistics professor would be named Dr. Chance,” he said. “But I also remember that after coming up short in the class after a tough fall semester, I returned to his class in the spring and with his help and my determination, was able to ace it! It was a great feeling of accomplishment and perseverance for me.”
Parents Mike and Marjetta get high praise from their son for the support they were always willing to give, no matter the sacrifice. Mom would make the trip up from Joplin to every home game and Dad, who was working full-time in Kansas City, was there as much as possible as well. “I can never say enough good things about my family,” Robinson said.
Today, with potential plans for a move up from Joplin and back to Kansas City, Robinson, his wife Lisa, and his daughter Imani's thoughts, the international man of travel can't seem to wait to re-acquire his torch as an ambassador for the university. “I'm really fired up about the future of UMKC,” he said.
Needless to say, there are Kangaroo alum and fans all – around who feel the same way. Go 'Roos!
(This is the second of a eight-part series featuring the 2010 UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame class.)Want to attend the 2010 Hall of Fame dinner and ceremony? CLICK HERE for more information and details.
