Will Robinson, the first black Division I basketball coach and the Detroit Pistons scout responsible for discovering Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, died Monday at the age of 96.  Robinson had been in bad health for the last 15 months and living in an assisted living program for the last year according to Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek.  He has a special connection to many of the contributors for Highbrid Nation because he attended West Virginia State, The only HBCU in the state of West Virginia and one that some of us partied at often during our college career.

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’ 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.

via Wikipedia