By Sophie Afdhal, Associate Sports Editor

On Oct. 19, the F&M men’s basketball coach Glenn Robinson was inducted into the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. Robinson has led the team for the past 43 years. He came to F&M in 1968 as the assistant coach and advanced to head coach in 1971. He has compiled an 853-312 record, with only nine people in NCAA history having ever won over 850 games. Robinson is currently fourth in the NCAA active coaches list, and has previously been inducted into Delaware County and Susquehanna Valley Chapters of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame as well as the West Chester University Hall of Fame.

Robinson grew up in Yeadon, Penn. and played basketball at Lansdowne-Aidan High School before attending West Chester University. There he was a star baseball and basketball player. Robinson graduated from West Chester University in 1967 and earned a masters degree a year later.

Robinson has successfully lead the team into the NCAA postseason a total of 23 times. In 2012, the team advanced to the elite eight and F&M has advanced to the round of 16 on 16 occasions and round of eight on 10 occasions. He has lead the dips to five final four tournaments in ’79, ’91, ’96, ’00, and ’09.

Robinson has also been awarded the “Coach of the Year” award 12 times by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The most recent win was in 2004 after he lead the team to a 26-4 record, a Centennial Conference title, and an Elite Eight appearance. The same year, he became the all-time wins leader in Division III history with his 667th win against Muhlenberg College on Feb. 14, 2004.

Robinson has also had great success with the student athletes he coaches. He has had 67 All-Conference selections, 25 All- America recognitions, and nine Conference Player of the Year honors awards given to his players during his time as head coach. Robinson also has a near perfect graduation rate of his players. Of all of his student athletes to ever play for him and earn a varsity letter, all but one have gone on to earn his degree.

Robinson’s contributions to the College have not gone unnoticed. In 2011, the College honored his countless hours spent in the gym by naming the hardwood in his honor. The court in Mayser Gymnasium is known as the Glenn Robinson Court. He received another honor in 2011 when the website CollegeInsider.com renamed their Division III Coach of the Year Award after him. The award is now know as the Glenn Robinson Award and is given annually to the top Division III coach.

Though the basketball season does not officially start game play until November, the season kicked off on Friday night with Basketball Madness at 10 p.m. It involved the formal introduction of both the men’s and women’s teams, 10 minute scrimmages for both teams, three point contests, dunk contests, and half-court shots by the crowd.

The awards ceremony occurred last Saturday, Oct. 19. Robinson was inducted along with 11 others on Saturday night in Harrisburg at the 51st annual State Hall dinner and ceremony. Robinson was the first inductee from Lancaster County since Gene A. Carpenter and Andrew Loechner in 2009. Robinson has achieved a high Pennsylvania honor and remains a great asset to F&M.

Junior Sophie Afdhal is the Associate Sports Editor. Her email is safdhal@fandm.edu.

 

By TCR