March 1, 2009
Craig Robinson, First Coach
Michelle Obama's Brother Left The Finance World To Return To His Love ... Basketball; Now He's Turning Around Oregon State
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Robinson, the head basketball coach at Oregon State, has another impressive title: Big Brother of Michelle Obama. (CBS)
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Robinson gave up a lucrative career in the finance world to return to his love of basketball and teaching. He is now turning around Oregon State's team. (CBS)
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Oregon State's head coach Craig Robinson talks to members of his team during a time out in the closing seconds of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Feb. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)
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Play CBS Video Video Meet Obama's Brother-In-Law Craig Robinson, brother to future First Lady Michelle Obama and brother-in-law to President-elect Barack Obama, discusses his role in the 2008 election and his new turn as a college basketball coach.
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Video In The Family Throughout his life, Craig Robinson watched over his little sister, First Lady Michelle Obama. Now Robinson is carving his own path as Oregon State head basketball coach. Jim Axelrod reports.
It's game day for the Oregon State University men's basketball team, and the ear-splitting, roof-raising crowd is their biggest in years.
The Beavers are taking on the University of Oregon, an intrastate rivalry so fierce they call it "The Civil War."
It's a crucial early test for OSU's new coach Craig Robinson, brought in to turn around a once-proud program that's hit the skids. Oregon State won just six games while losing 25 last year - last place in their conference.
"What are you aiming to achieve here at Oregon State?" Axelrod asked.
"Well, I'd like to say that I'm aiming for perfection on the court and then all the stuff that comes with that," said Robinson.
Perfection? After a last-place finish? You'll have to excuse Craig Robinson if he dreams big. You see, as Michelle Obama's older brother, he understands better than most the audacity of hope.
"Can you tell me what it's like to stand on that inauguration platform and look at a million and a half, two million, three million people moving in waves?" Axelrod asked.
"It was extremely humbling to me," he said. "I'm still trying to wrap my arms around it, I really am. It's my little sister. You know, this is the little girl who, when I got a new bike, she came wheeling up in her tricycle. I still can't fathom that my sister's the First Lady and my brother-in-law is the President of the United States. Can't!"
(CBS)
"At six foot six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me - literally - but the truth is, both when we were kids and today, Craig wasn't looking down on me, he was looking over me, and he has been there for me every step of the way," Michelle Obama said in Denver.
Their father, Fraser Robinson, died in 1991. He was a pump operator for the city water department … battling multiple sclerosis but never missing work. Their mother Marian was a secretary. Today, she's living in the White House to help raise her granddaughters.
"People look at what you and your husband did," Axelrod asked. "You produce a division 1 college head coach and, oh by the way the first lady of the United States. And they want to know what kind of magic dust were you sprinkling in your home?"
(CBS)
"It wasn't magic dust," Craig said. "There was love. There was discipline. There was respect. My mom and dad always gave my sister and I a sense of who we were."
"We wanted them to have the feeling they can try anything," Marian Robinson said. "The saying was, 'If it can be done, you can do it.' It's a matter of choice."
They weren't poor, but money was tight. A high school basketball star, Craig Robinson had a choice for college - a full scholarship to play for the University of Washington, or Princeton, which didn't give athletic scholarships. Craig chose Washington.
"And my dad did that thing that dads do when you make a decision that's not what he thought you should make," Craig Robinson said. "So, he went like this, (rubbing his chin), he put his chin down like this, and he just thought for a minute. And he said, 'Well, why did you pick University of Washington?' And I said 'It's free.'
"And he said, 'Well, listen, if you pick your school based on how much I have to pay, I'd be very disappointed.' And the next day I said, 'Well, you know, I really did like Princeton and it would be great to be able to go to an academic institution like that if we can handle it.' And that right there changed my whole life."
Twice the Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton, Robinson played a couple of years overseas after graduation, and then started a career in finance. He was making a high six-figure salary, but in terms of psychic income - he was broke.
"My folks always said that if you take a job based on the pay, ultimately you're not gonna make enough money to put up with the mess," he laughed.
So big brother took some advice from his little sister:
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
Robinson took a nearly 90% pay cut to become an assistant coach at Northwestern, having learned watching others to follow your heart, not your wallet.
"How is Craig Robinson Fraser Robinson's son?" Axelrod asked Marian Robinson.
"My husband used to say, 'A smart man learns from his own mistakes, a wise man learns from the mistakes of others.' And Craig lives by that. He doesn't do anything that someone else has done that's stupid! And I love that about him."
Craig Robinson was trusting basketball to help him find the right path. It's sort of a family tradition.
He told how Michelle asked for his help when she became serious about one young man: "My sister, after she'd been dating him awhile, found out that he fashioned himself a basketball player. And she said, 'You gotta take this guy out,' having heard my father and me talk about how you can tell a guy's real personality on the basketball court, and she wanted to know what he was like when she wasn't around."
The guy, of course, was her future husband, who still fancies himself a bit of a basketball player. Craig Robinson gave Barack Obama a playground grilling:
"The thing that I could tell right away was that he was very team-oriented," he said. "He passed the ball when he should. He shot when he should. And I tell people all the time, the most impressive thing to me was that he didn't just pass me the ball because he was dating my sister!" he laughed. "Wasn't trying to suck up or anything like that."
"So you knew after playing with him, he passed whatever test he needed to pass?" Axelrod asked.
"I was able to report back to my sister that it was a good workout," he said.
History is hatched in a lot of different places, but rarely on a playground.
So Craig Robinson is back where he belongs: The hard-nosed scrapper from the South Side of Chicago, taking on a program he found in total disarray.
(CBS)
How could they tell Robinson meant business?
"When he said we were practicing at 5:30 a.m., we knew he meant business!" another said.
"You didn't practice at 5:30 in the morning before he got here?" Axelrod asked.
"Never in my life!"
Tough, but cool. Demanding, but not dramatic. He's also let loose his Ivy League side.
Player Calvin said, "He uses words, very big words during practices." Omari laughed: "Sometimes, we don't understand what he's saying. So he says, 'Look it up in the dictionary.'"
And yes, there's a dictionary in the locker room. "Yeah, Webster's. Right on one of the stools. If you don't know it, we just go look at it. Very smart man.
And one who's teaching a bunch of kids who lost 21 games in a row last year how to win. Already this season, the Beavers have won twice as many games as last. Robinson's name is being kicked around basketball circles in his conference as a candidate for Coach of the Year.
He showed why on the day we visited, his team coming from 14 points down for a thrilling win against their archrivals … their first win over University of Oregon in three years.
"Fellas, I couldn't be happier for all of us," Robinson told his team. "I'm happy for me but I'm really happy for you guys."
Yes, the Robinson family is having quite a year, an all-American success story, twice-over. Maybe there was no magic dust. But clearly something very special was going on in Fraser and Marian Robinson's Chicago home.
"If your husband could look at the life Craig's leading right now, what do you think would be filling him with the most pride?" Axelrod asked.
"You know, he was crazy about that child before he did anything in life," marian laughed. "So, I've said this before, you would not be able to stand to be in the same room with my husband right now because he thought he had the greatest kids that God ever gave anyone, and he just thought that the minute they were born. And I think the children felt it."
"So he wouldn't be surprised by anything either of the kids have done?"
"No, he would not."
"Not even first lady?"
"Not … well, that would surprise anybody now!" she laughed.
Even while becoming the biggest man on campus at Oregon State, he's still taking a back seat to his kid-sister … just the way he likes it.
"Michelle Obama used to be Craig Robinson's little sister, because of basketball," Axelrod said. "Now you're her big brother."
"Now I'm Michelle Obama's brother and I love every minute of it," Craig said.
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Add a Comment See all 11 Comments
- I applaud your highlighting Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson, brother of First Lady Michelle Obama and America?s illustrious ?First Coach?. Without a question, he is an extraordinary individual, and his status as a remarkable member of the extended Obama family does them all proud.
But I have to question the choice of sound bites you selected, one of which showed Coach Robinson in an unquestionably noble light, but which also featured a member of his team very audibly spewing obscenities at someone on the court (most likely a referee or an opposing player). The incident is so glaring and so blatant that I have to wonder how much care was exercised in the selection of the footage. Not much, I would imagine?it appears to have been a very sloppy and careless lapse in editorial scrutiny. A black eye for the Sunday Morning team?one I hope you will acknowledge and apologize for. If you fail to acknowledge the lapse promptly, I fear you will further diminish your credibility and descend into the jackal pack, moldering in the ranks of our country?s mass media-ocrity. - Reply to this comment
- I am not a supporter of Obama and I did not vote for him, but there story is truly inspiring........
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- Always has to be some small minded, envious naysayer in the bunch. This time it is credibility.
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- Although I disagree with many of President Obama's policies, the story of Craig and Michelle is inspiring. Coach Craig is writing a book about his mother, which I look forward to reading. So, although I'm not trilled with Obama as President, I certainly do approve of this hire for OSU. As a resident of Corvallis, I've seen the changes first hand.
And his mother should be proud of her children.
The other thing that was amazing to me, even with the major distraction of being at the inauguration (which should be a highlight of any one's life), Coach Craig came right back to work and the team continued on a great winning streak. Coach is full of praise for his coaches, and the team, for staying on track with all of the distractions that come with being the brother-in-law of the President.
Best Wishes, Coach Craig! - Reply to this comment
- Great interview ! Sounds to me like the OSU basketball team is a good metaphor for the economy. Lot's of potential given the right leadership! Good luck Craig!
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- It didn't hurt for him to be Michelle's brother and brother-in-law to the new president. This is how Michelle got some of her prestigious posts. These folks didn't do it the old fashioned way; they did it through connections and their dna. So much for the struggle and overcoming. Bet this guy is paying way too much, just like all of the other university and pro coaches (let's also include all of the overpaid boys to play a seasonal game). And these are probably the same ones who complain about what CEO Wall St. types make. It's about time egregiously overpaid sports and entertainment figures got equal treatment.
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- Oh how the media loves Aunt Esther and The Messiah! Only 3 years and some months left. Hope America survives.
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- I'm alumni from the rival school Uuniversity of Oregon but I'll tell you what people in Oregon love Robinson and what he is doing at OSU- If his brother in law does half as good for the country we will be sitting pretty very soon!
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- Thanks Mr Axelrod for a great interview of our Coach, Craig Robinson.
I have been a Oregon State Beaver Basketball fan (Go Beav's) for many years and to say that the auspicious hiring of Craig Robinson to lead our disheartened basketball team is a understatement. We have been in a revolving door since the great Ralph Miller retired. After watching Coach Rob's team play this year, there are a lot of similarities to those very solid Millier teams of the past. You can see the young fellas love playing for this man,
they are so much more disciplined and show so much more heart for the game it is very impressive for his first year. Coach Rob has turned this program around in his first year!
Go Beavs 09 - Reply to this comment
- I was there at the inauguration. The whole affair was a MAD House. Jim Belushi would have loved it! OsiSpeaks[dot]com
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- Very nice interview/article. Inspiring for parents everywhere!
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