Add John Chaney and Phog Allen to the list. Already the most victorious coach in NCAA Division III history, Glenn Robinson surpassed the aforementioned basketball legends in career wins earlier this season.
The remarkable history that has been Robinson's career in Lancaster has seen milestone after milestone passed. The 38-year veteran is inextricably linked to F&M's basketball history. This year's February 11 victory over Ursinus was not only Robinson's 750th win, but the program's 1,200th. Last season, he became only the second Division III coach to reach 1,000 games coached.
Robinson has brought the Diplomats to the NCAA's Division III dance 20 times, most recently leading his squad to the 2009 Final Four. F&M has advanced to the round of 16 a dozen times and the round of eight in seven postseasons. The 2009 National Semifinals marked the team's fifth appearance in the final weekend on Robinson's watch and the 21st season with 21+victories. His guidance of the young edition of Diplomats landed him D3Hoops.com Coach of the Year honors.
Robinson guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four in 1979, 1991, 1996, 2000 and 2009 and was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991. He has earned conference and NABC "Coach of the Year" honors 12 times, including the 2004 award for guiding the Diplomats to a 26-4 record, the Centennial Conference title and an NCAA Elite Eight berth. D3Hoops.com named him the Coach of the Year following the 2009 season, when he led a young Diplomats team to the NCAA Championship weekend.
A 1967 graduate of West Chester University, Robinson became the all-time wins leader in Division III history by recording his 667th victory on February 14, 2004 with a Mayser Center win over Muhlenberg. He is one of only 18 coaches in NCAA history to amass 750 wins. Robinson is currently seventh amongst all active NCAA coaches in victories, trailing coaches with names like Kryzewski, Olson, Calhoun and Boeheim. Driesell and Sutton are within reach, while Wooden and Tarkanian are in the rear view.
Robinson grew up in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, and played high school basketball at nearby Lansdowne-Aldan High before attending West Chester. At WCU, he was a standout collegiate baseball and basketball player before graduating in 1967 and earning a masters degree a year later. He was inducted into the University's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
During his tenure, all but one player to earn a varsity letter in basketball has earned a degree, a statistic which few, if any, other college in the nation can boast.
"I think that the thing that impresses me most when I look at F&M is the kind of program that Glenn Robinson has built and maintained," said Hope College coach Glenn Van Wieren prior to facing the Diplomats in the 1996 Final Four. "He's truly one of college basketball's best coaches at any level."
He joined the F&M basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in 1968 under Hall of Fame coach and athletic trainer Chuck Taylor. In the fall of 1971, he took over the Diplomats' varsity program when Taylor resigned to focus on his athletic training responsibilities.
But Robinson's road to NCAA history did not look realistic in the beginning.
Following a year which saw F&M finish 4-16, its seventh consecutive losing season, Robinson took over and led the 1971-72 Diplomats to a 7-14 improvement with wins over Western Maryland, Eastern, Penn State-Harrisburg, Haverford, Juniata, Messiah and a season concluding 68-51 victory over Drexel University. In 1973, the Diplomats improved to 11-13, the eighth straight losing season in program history as the Diplomats last finished .500 or better in 1962-63 when the squad notched a 10-9 record.
Finally, in 1974, Robinson and the Diplomats broke through for a 13-11 mark, the team's best record since a 13-6 performance in 1959.
In 1976, Robinson reset the school win record with a 17-8 record. However, the record did not stand for long as he broke it again in 1977 with 22, 1979 with 27, 1991 with 28 and 1996 with 29 victories.
Part of his success has been the personnel with which he has had to work as Will Lasky (1991 honorable mention, 1992 first team), Donnie Marsh (1977 & 1979 second team), Jeremiah Henry (1996 first team), Dave Jannetta (1994 honorable mention, 1995 third team), Brad Markey (1989 second team), Dennis Westley (1981 second team), Terry Scott (1988 third team), Phil Hoeker (1989 honorable mention), Chris Finch (1991 & 1992 honorable mention), Charlie Detz (1994 & 1995 honorable mention), Mike Mehaffey (1996 honorable mention), Alex Kraft (2000 first team, 2001 honorable mention), Steve Juskin (2004 honorable mention) and Duran Searles (2004 honorable mention) all earned All-America honors under Robinson.
"If you look at F&M over the years, you'll see that there's
rarely a player with an average of more than 17 points per game,"
noted Henry. "The best way to play basketball is for all five
people on the floor to function completely as a unit. We really
stress teamwork and the ability to play together and that comes
through Coach Robinson's system."
