Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 3, 1993 TAG: 9304030105
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
2 ROANOKE CONNECTIONS IN FINAL FOUR
The Final Four is many things, including stunning statistics.So, how about this one? Of the 54 players and 16 coaches who will participate in this evening's national semifinals at the Superdome, 2.9 percent are from Roanoke.
Yes, the Star City is shining at this Final Four, for the second time in three years. It's the second and last Final Four for North Carolina forward George Lynch. Steve Robinson hopes that's where the Roanoke connection ends.
Robinson, like Lynch, is a Roanoke native. An assistant coach at Kansas, Robinson and the Jayhawks went against Lynch and the Tar Heels - and won - two years ago at the Hoosier Dome.
"Every time I turn around at the Final four, there's George Lynch," Robinson said, laughing, after the Jayhawks' Superdome workout Friday. "George is a senior. I hope that doesn't mean I won't be coming back here again.
"Actually, I guess it's kind of unique. Roanoke is a nice place, but it isn't the biggest basketball hotbed. To have two people from Roanoke in the Final Four not once, but twice, is kind of incredible, I guess."
Robinson, 35, will spend part of today - as he has the past several days - showing the Jayhawks how to keep his fellow homeboy off the boards. He and Lynch have met, but only in passing.
The bespectacled Robinson played at William Fleming, where he graduated in 1976. Lynch helped Patrick Henry to the 1988 state Group AAA title before leaving town for his senior season at Flint Hill Prep.
"Fleming, PH, Kansas, North Carolina," Robinson said. "The rivalry continues. My sister, Kathy, told me half of the city would be rooting for us and the other half for George."
Asked whether he considered he'd have a Final Four in his future, Robinson remembered his years at Fleming under coach Charlie Van Lear.
"I'd think about that, and I couldn't even imagine what it would be like," Robinson said. "Shoot, when we'd have 500 fans at Fleming we'd think it was a big-time game.
"I'd watch on TV and see Bill Walton making all of those shots (21-of-22) against Memphis State. I was just talking to Roy [Williams, the Kansas head coach] on the bus about that coming over here today.
"I remember when I was at Cornell and I got to know Stu Jackson [now the head coach at Wisconsin]. He was Rick Pitino's assistant at Providence when they came down here for the Final four in 1987.
"I told Roy that back then, after thinking about Stu, I'd be thrilled to be have the opportunity to do that. A few years later, I've had the chance twice in three years.
"It's rewarding. All of those hours on the road recruiting, all of those hours watching film, and then this. That's all part of the formula people use to gauge whether you're successful or not."
Robinson's appreciation of what he's achieved is enhanced because he didn't play Division I basketball. He spent two years at Ferrum, when the Franklin County school still had a junior college program, then two seasons at Radford, when the Highlanders were still an NAIA program.
He was RU's first scholarship basketball player, and he hasn't forgotten his roots. After practice Friday, he phoned Lynchburg College coach Joe Davis - Robinson's coach at Radford who is here to watch the Final Four.
After his Radford graduation, Robinson worked as an assistant coach at Lincoln (Pa.) University, Albemarle High, his alma mater and then Cornell. Williams hired him in 1988 - at the suggestion of then-assistant Jerry Green, who from his days at North Carolina-Asheville knew Robinson from Radford. Green was hired as the head coach at Oregon a year ago.
Robinson was offered the top job at Cornell two seasons ago. He said that although he has specific goals for his career - including head coaching - he will be particular about an opportunity before leaving the Jayhawks.
"I've worked hard, but there's luck involved, too," Robinson said. "There are guys back in Roanoke I grew up with, guys from junior high and the varsity team who were more talented than me, but I got the opportunity to move on.
"We recruit nationally. I've been to Alaska, Hawaii, two Final Fours. My parents, my coaches provided me with a solid base. I appreciate that. I think about that a lot."
Robinson has made this Final Four a family affair. He and his wife, Lisa, and their four children are enjoying the trip - because, as Robinson said, "you never know when you'll be back again."
With Williams a protege of UNC coach Dean Smith and the Jayhawks and Tar Heels using the same systems, today's semifinal opener could be played with mirrors.
"It could be ugly," Robinson said. "That can happen when teams know so much about the other."
No matter, it will be a beauty to Robinson and Lynch. They're atop college basketball's Mill Mountain.