Having grown up in Detroit, smack dab in the middle of its sports community, I’ve heard the name Will Robinson ever since I can remember.
In my household, the sports conversation always found its way back to legends like Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Will Robinson.
If I mentioned Muhammad Ali, my dad would bring up Louis. If I mentioned Ray Leonard, he would counter with Sugar Ray Robinson. If I dropped the names of Detroit coaches like Elbert Richmond and Fred Snowden, he would counter with Will Robinson.
I know his viewpoint was not totally unbiased, because he and his crew were 1950 Pershing High graduates, and they were completely giddy when Robinson found his way over to the school on Seven Mile Road.
He dragged me over to see Spencer Haywood, John Lockhard, Paul Seal, Mel Daniels, Ralph Simpson, Marvin Lane, James Connell, Dennis Murray and Glenn Doughty when they were at Pershing. Then when Haywood went to the University of Detroit, he pulled me to almost every game.
Robinson also had some strong and lasting roots at Miller High where his teams tore the roof off Black Bottom. Men like Clarence Norris, Eugene Hamilton, Frank Robinson, Harold Blackwell, Sammy Gee, Albert Bolton, Robert Taylor, Porter Lewis, Charlie Primas, Luke Brooks, Charles Bailey, Charles Mackey, Robert Taylor, Paul Dean, Joe Marcum, and Gerald Hutchins all etched their name in Detroit Public School League lore.
Robinson coached those young men to four consecutive PSL titles – 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950.
Robinson forever remained close to those Miller years, but the Pershing Doughboys wrapped their arms around him and he rewarded them with two Michigan Class A state titles (1967 and 1970) – much to the delight of my dad and his Pershing alumni buddies.
Father and son
Of all of Robinson’s relationships with people, his with Haywood was very special.
“I was down in the Mississippi Delta picking cotton,” Haywood said. “It was my brother, Leroy, who brought me up to Detroit. That’s when God put Will in my life and it forever changed.
“He told me that no one from the PSL had won a state title in 35 years. He said I’m going to adopt you and we can go win the state as father and son and we did just that.
“Will was hard on me about everything, but he did it in love. Every part of my life, we did it together and he had his handprint on it.
“When I left Tennessee and went to Trinidad Junior College, Will called me and told me he’s going to help me get a tryout for the 1968 Olympic team. They did not want to take me because they did not take J.C. players, but somehow Will made it happen.
“While he and I were in Mexico City, there were a lot of protests happening and I was only 18 years old. I did not know if I should get involved or not. He sat me down and sternly told me to play basketball and let that be my statement.
“When we went before the United States Supreme Court to contest the NBA early entry rule that did not allow underclassmen to apply for the NBA Draft, just before the trial, Justice Thurgood Marshall called me over to him and he said, ‘Tell your father, Will, I said, hi!’
“Right then and there, I knew we were going to win the case, and we did.”
“I cannot even envision what my life would have been like without Will’s input.”
Remembering Robinson
While Robinson had his hands in Haywood’s life, he also liked to recall how over 300 of his former players went to college and made quality lives for themselves.
Many from Robinson’s Miller, Pershing and Detroit Pistons’ days expressed their sincere love and appreciation for the coaching legend who helped to enrich their lives:
Ralph Simpson, a Pershing High graduate and member of the 1967 state championship team who went on to fame in the ABA and NBA: “It would take me an entire week to tell you how I feel about Will. I just talked to Spencer and we have this friendly sibling rivalry. He says he was Will’s favorite and I say I was, and we just go back and forth with it.
“I’ll never forget the day my dad told me he was going to take me to a man that could help me. Man . . . that ended up being an understatement.
“Spencer and I, after winning the state title, was talking about the loss to Northwestern in the PSL title game that same year and Will walked by and said, “Ya’ll still can’t check Curtis Jones.’
“Although my years at Michigan State were good, I still think about how it would have been if Will would have gotten that head coaching job at U of D and Spencer and I could have played together. Man, that would have been great.”
Charlie Primas, a Miller High basketball great who played on the Harlem Globetrotters: “He was a man among men, like a falcon among birds. He was a philosopher; he knew how to motivate us. He used to say, ‘There is no return ticket to the show. When the curtain falls, it’s over.’ He was a coach and father figure to many of us. That’s why he was so hard with the discipline, although not so much from a physical standpoint, but mentally he would challenge us. I go back over 60 years with Will and I still remember and use many of the lessons he left us with.”
Ofield Dukes, a Miller High graduate who heads one of the top public relations firms in Washington, D.C.: “During a racially segregated time in Detroit, God searched the country and found this little big man to bridge this great gap. He was more than a coach to all in the Black Bottom. He instilled in me and others the passion to succeed”
Pistons announcer George Blaha: “Will rose up in our society in spite of his color, because he saw the goodness that was in his heart and in others. He was a remarkable man.”
Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Lem Barney, who was discovered by Robinson: “He knew when to give you a hug or that famous whip. His footprints have gone where not many men’s have been. When a man is remembered like Will, he will never be forgotten.”
Marvin Lane, a Pershing High graduate and member of the 1967 state championship team who went on to play Major League Baseball: “Will was a disciplinarian and father figure. It was about life’s lessons with us. He was stern, but fair, and he did not take any noise.”
Detroit Pistons Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, who was discovered by Robinson and now serves as Pistons team president: “Will Robinson was truly one of the great legends in life. Will was one of a kind. Will inspired me and every other person he came in contact with. He was simply the best. We will miss him dearly and he will always be in our hearts.”
Will Robinson Jr.: “In my life, I’ve always been asked what it is like to be Will’s son? I never got told off for my less-than-average athletic skills, but if I produced less than my best academically, he let me know. My dad had a lot of stars, but he lived by the idea that life is what you do with the average kid that will eventually be his legacy.” Gone but never forgotten, I guess Robinson and my dad are reminiscing about those Pershing days and smiling down on all the less-than-superstar lives he’s enhanced.
