It took more than seven weeks, but it was well worth the wait. On June 15, 50 days after Glen Miller left to become head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger introduced Craig Robinson as the 29th head coach of the Bears.
"It was one of those cases where I thought every candidate that came in for an interview was terrific," Goldberger said. "Coach Robinson was the last one to interview and he just stood out. After he was finished I just said, 'Wow, this is the guy.'"
The 44-year old Robinson brings an extensive background of basketball knowledge and a familiarity with the life of an Ivy League student-athlete to College Hill. Robinson played at Princeton in the early 1980s and was twice named Ivy League Player of the Year. Princeton also won two Ivy League championships during his time there.
After graduation, Robinson played professionally in Europe for two years before returning to America to work in the private business sector throughout the 1990s. However, when former Princeton assistant Bill Carmody was named the head coach at Northwestern University in 2000, Robinson left the business world to join his collegiate coach on the bench, where he spent the next six seasons and helped the Wildcats to 57 wins between 2001 and 2005, the most ever in a four-year span at the school.
Coupled with his playing experience at Princeton, Robinson believed his experience coaching at Northwestern, another school that places a high value on the education of its athletes, as well as winning basketball games, helped his candidacy.
"I always thought that having an Ivy League background could only help me, not hurt me," he said of the application process. "There are some unique things about recruiting players to the Ivy League that differ a bit from other schools."
Goldberger wouldn't say whether Robinson's link to the Ivy League was the deciding factor, but it clearly was one of the more important qualities that Robinson possessed. That awareness of the way an Ivy League institution operates, coupled with his strong communication skills and leadership background, likely proved to be the difference after Goldberger sifted through the more than 70 applicants and 10 semifinal candidates.
"There were three main things I was looking for in this process," Goldberger said. "The first was for someone with absolute integrity, for someone who always tries to do the right thing. Two, was someone who understands the healthy balance between academics and athletics and how they work together at an Ivy League school. When Coach Robinson talks about the value of an Ivy League education, he really understands it. And three, I wanted someone who could beat Coach Miller."
Though the requirement to defeat Miller and the Quakers was a remark made in jest, Robinson will have some big shoes to fill in his attempts to dethrone Miller and the reigning Ivy champs. Miller revitalized a Brown program that had been mired in mediocrity before his arrival in 1999. The team suffered through a 4-22 season the year prior to Miller's arrival.
In Miller's first five years at the helm, however, the Bears consistently contended for the Ivy crown. Brown qualified for the National Invitational Tournament for the first time in the 2003 season.
Unfortunately for Robinson, in his first few weeks on the job he is at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to his Ivy counterparts. The rest of the league's coaches have been preparing for the upcoming campaign since the season ended in March. But because the hiring of Robinson came in mid-June, NCAA rules stipulate Robinson will be unable to see his players play live or supervise any workouts until school starts in September.
"Before I got here, I didn't really know what to expect at all," Robinson said. "I have always followed Princeton basketball through the years but all I noticed about Brown was that they beat Princeton (61-46 in March). I haven't even been able to see the guys play yet, but I've been watching a lot of tape and from what I've seen so far, I'm pretty happy with what I have to work with."
One player whose skills Robinson is still not sure will benefit the Bears next year is second-team All-Ivy performer Keenan Jeppesen '08, who came into his own last season during the conference portion of the schedule. He was second in the league in scoring in Ivy play with 16.1 points per game, behind only the Quakers' Ibrahim Jaaber at 19.1. Miller has been recruiting Jeppesen, who was unavailable for comment, to join him at Penn in the fall. If he were to leave Brown, Jeppesen would have to sit out the 2006-07 season and would then have two years of eligibility remaining.
"It's kind of up in the air right now on his status," Robinson said. "He sounded pretty resigned to leaving when I spoke to him. A coaching change is a tough time for all the kids involved, so after I was hired I went up to meet with him and introduce myself. As I told the rest of the team, I would love to have him with us, but with or without him we are going to be successful."
