UConn's Stanley Robinson's Wake Up Call

When people analyze a college basketball's coaches success they quickly turn to the win and loss column. If the team has a poor record, fans cry for a change, while when things are going well the coach is the smartest man alive. However, a coach at the college level should not be solely judged for how his team performs on the court. He or she is coaching young men or women who are still finding themselves. A coach must not just coach them through the fundamentals on the basketball court, but help them with their schoolwork and development from an immature college student to a young man. Coach Calhoun reflects the idea of a balanced coach.

Stanley Robinson, six foot nine, small forward for the Connecticut Huskies, can do no wrong on the basketball court. His team is in the top 25, and he is averaging double figures for the season. He is described to have springs as legs, as his put-back dunk is a signature part of his game. It appears as though he could out jump any opponent foolish enough to try. However, his coach isn't pleased. Calhoun is displeased with Stanley's attitude continually stating he needs to "grow up." Finally Calhoun had enough of his six foot nine sophomore from Alabama, and suspended him from the Connecticut basketball team indefinitely. Instead of taking Calhoun's suspension personally, Robinson looked at it as an opportunity to mature as a human being. He went back home and took a job Prime Materials. He worked long hours earning 700 dollars a week. Enough to pay for the bare essentials: food, utilities, and rent.

A few months later Stanley had not only earned the respect from his coaches and teammates but he had proved something to himself. Calhoun stated that " 'I'm not surprised, [with Stanley coming back]I knew he would. He had a lot of self-defeating behavior but he has a really good hear and he really wants to be here. When looking back at it, Stanley Robinson is grateful for that wake up call Coach Calhoun gave him during his sophomore year. "'I'm much different. I'm more mature now. I'm a man. This made me a man.'" That's not something Robinson could have said one year ago.

Dana O'Neil. "Robinson picks himself up off the scrap heap for Connecticut." ESPN