As a little boy, living in the country, we didn’t know much
about basketball…instead, we played hardball (baseball). When we moved to the
city when I was in the 6th grade, I played on a softball team. I thought
I was really good until I saw boys who played better than me. Then I got to
junior high school and got introduced to playing basketball. I enjoyed playing
it, and when I got in the 10th grade, I was playing basketball in
gym, and my gym teacher (Coach Elder) came up to me and said, “Henry, would you
like to be on the basketball team?” I said, “Coach, I don’t know nothing ‘bout
no basketball.” He said, “I’ll teach you.”
During spring practice, I attended
the practices where he started teaching me how to play basketball. I watched
the older guys play and thought, “I can’t play like that.” But all of the
seniors were leaving and they needed new members to try out. So at the end of
the season, and these “practice tryouts,” there was a list posted of those who
had made the team. And though I thought a lot of the other guys were better
players than I, I looked on that list, and there was my name. But that was just
the first elimination. The second elimination was that if your name WAS on the
list, you were eliminated. So I was looking at the next list, fearful that my
name was on that list. My name was not on that list. And so I was officially on
the team. We started the practices. But we initially didn’t start out playing
basketball. We did a lot of drills…drills as if we were running track. We ran
up and down the court and up and down the bleachers, continuously. Then one
day, Coach put some narrow rims on top of the goals, and we had to try and
shoot the ball through the narrow holes. Then we did a drill called “fast
break” where three guys run down the court passing the ball without the ball
ever touching the floor. You had to run fast enough so that when you caught and
passed it, you would not be making a “traveling” violation. After those drills,
we scrimmaged against 12th graders who were graduating. Then after
that, during the summer, every Thursday, we met at an elementary school and
would play basketball. Here, we were still learning the skills of basketball.
So now, I’m in the 11th grade and had to try out again. I was scared
again, but made the team. Not only did I make the team, but I was put on first
string, which consisted of the first 8 boys on the team who would be called to
play (5 starters and 3 backup players). I was one of the backup forwards. One
of the first games I played in (we played a school called St. Bartholomew), I
was shooting so well, but constantly praying that they wouldn’t throw the ball
to me. But they kept throwing the ball to me, and I kept hitting! We won that
game. I remember our principal asked the coach, “Coach, where did you get this
boy from?” We continued through the season with me substitute playing. We
didn’t win a championship or anything, but we had a good team. Then my senior
year came, and I had to try out for the team again!!! And I made it again…and
was made part of the first 5. We began to play and win. I got a little cocky
and wanted them to throw it to me! I could shoot well, but I never could dunk
the ball. I had one really good game (against a school in Pine Bluff) where I
knocked down 30 points! My name was in the newspaper: “Robinson leads the
Bearcats!”
I hurt my ankle later on in my 12th grade year and was
taken off the first string so I had to stop playing with first string. I played
with the 2nd string team. I played in small consolation games.
Finally, my ankle healed. From that time
on, “I was a running Bearcat.” I was back at it. We went to the state
championship game and lost to a team from Strong, AR. The season ended and
while I didn’t get a scholarship, I got offers to tryout at a few junior
colleges (one in Texas). But my mom would not let me go. I ended up going to
college at UALR. I was playing basketball in their gym and one of the coaches
saw me and asked me about my basketball skills. I told him that I had played
for Horace Mann. He asked me to come out and play for their team (Little Rock
University). I went to spring training, but was not able to play because I was
drafted to the military. I played a little basketball in the military with guys
who had played all over the United States.
When I got out of the army, several
asked me to try out for UALR’s basketball team, but I declined. But I did play
City League basketball. We played against a lot of guys who finished playing
college basketball, but did not go on to play professional basketball. That is
how I met one of my wife’s brothers. We beat his team really bad….
When I married my wife, my wife’s brothers underestimated my
basketball skills. But I showed them on the court that I was a good basketball
player. They were wowed. I also played for the church basketball team when my
children were younger…
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