The Ultimate Warrior Leads Northeastern’s Resurgence
Ask a few people who have played with or coached Sylbrin Robinson to describe what it’s been like, and a lot of the same things are said. At Northeastern, there are plenty of people who can speak to it.
“With Syl, you always know what you’re going to get, day in and day out” says senior wing Javorie Wilson, who first played with Robinson when both were in the fifth grade back in Miami. “He’s all about the things that need to be done for a team to be successful, not just blocking shots but taking charges. You get a leader on the court and off the court.”
“He’s very vocal, consistent, brings a lot of life to a team,” says senior forward Cornelius Wright, who played with Robinson at Miami Senior High School and Odessa College before Northeastern. “His work ethic speaks for itself – he works so hard, it just makes you want to work even harder just to try and keep up with him.”
“He’s a good fundamental guy, good work ethic, and good to be around as a friend and a family member,” said Marcus Barnes, a distant cousin of Robinson who got a call from him just as we talked about him.
Frank Martin, Robinson’s high school coach and now an assistant at Northeastern, says that Robinson is “as good a kid as I’ve ever been around.” He adds that it’s “gratifying to see him work as hard as he does.”
Talented freshman forward Bennet Davis has already benefited immensely from Robinson as well.
“Being the kind of player he is helped me a lot to become better as a player, with that winning attitude, and he’s a tough player,” Davis says.
One thing is clear: Robinson’s contribution to the program’s recent resurgence can’t possibly be measured by his points or rebounds, the latter of which he has had plenty of since he recently led America East in rebounding with 8.5 rebounds per game after finishing second last year with 9.1 per game. Robinson is an old school player in almost every respect, and a player who admires players that were legends when he was still growing up. Head coach Ron Everhart can sum up what he’s meant to the program very concisely.
“Just about everything,” Everhart reflects.
Indeed, Robinson has been the leader of the program’s resurgence the last two years, where the Huskies posted their first winning season since 1994-95 last year and have two winning seasons in a row for the first time since 1989-91. While many accolades go to sophomore point guard Jose Juan Barea, the conference’s second-leading scorer this season and leader in assists, Robinson has been the heart and soul of the team.
“I credit Sylbrin Robinson with being the biggest reason why our program has gotten to where we’ve now had back-to-back winning seasons and where we’ve put ourselves in the position to have the type of seeding that we have right now,” Everhart said, alluding to the Huskies being the third seed in the America East Tournament. The guy’s a real leader, and it’s not just one of those verbal things – he’s an example guy, he brings it every day.
“He’s been a very coachable guy, he listens, he likes to be demanded of, and he demands things of his teammates. When you run into a guy like him he makes everybody around him better.”
It hasn’t come easy, though, as Robinson’s stint at Northeastern has mirrored his life in that he has had to overcome a lot of obstacles. A tendon injury in his right ankle forced him to redshirt two years ago after playing just four games, then he battled injuries all last season. He dislocated his left elbow late in January, returning after two weeks, all while playing through tendon injuries in his left ankle and his left thumb, both of which he needed surgery for in the offseason. He spent much of last summer in two casts.
Now in his tenth season as a college head coach, Everhart says that Robinson is the toughest player he has ever coached. One game that stands out in Robinson’s college career is the Huskies’ big upset of Boston College on January 5 last season, where he scored 21 points on 8-10 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds, battling back after blowing an uncontested dunk early on to make clutch shots down the stretch in the upset.
“That might have been one of the few games in his career where you can say he was almost 100 percent,” Everhart recalls. “I noticed how well he bounced off the floor, dunking in traffic. The games where he has been closer to full strength and has had that full bounce and mobility, he’s been fun to watch.”
Perhaps nothing better illustrates how Robinson has played through physical problems better than a recent bout with illness. For about two weeks in February, he was seriously ill with an ulcer near his colon and an intestinal infection, and he was dehydrated for several days leading up to a key game against Maine. He was tested for numerous illnesses, but diagnosed with none while hospitalized for three days. With the key game coming up, and on Senior Night, Robinson recalls his thoughts with Everhart and Barea visiting him.
“I’m not going to miss it at all – but the doctor didn’t want to let me out,” Robinson recalls. “While we sat there, we put our heads together to see if we could come up with a plan to get me out of there.”
Robinson played in the game – like he did in the other 28 regular season games – and was a key performer with 17 points and 9 rebounds. He wasn’t feeling any better after the game, preparing to drink plenty of Gatorade to keep fluids in his body.
“Should I have played, probably not,” he said after the game. “But the thing was that I knew they needed me in some type of form.”
Robinson traveled a long road to get here. He didn’t have an easy childhood growing up in Miami, feeling now like a lot of his early struggles are long gone. He remembers having to go out of his way to find places to play basketball in Miami with Barnes. Martin, who Robinson describes as being like a father figure and was a key reason he came to Northeastern, certainly helped as he grew up.
Robinson was a top 100 high school senior and signed with Florida, but didn’t qualify academically and went to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He didn’t last long there, leaving to come back to Miami in December and never returning. He went to a technical school back in Miami and prepared for the SAT, then re-signed with Florida before not enrolling the following year because he couldn’t leave Miami due to personal issues. He then enrolled at Florida International for a semester, and went on to Odessa College in Texas with Wright.
While at Odessa, there was no doubt in Robinson’s mind where he would go when he finished there. Martin arrived at Northeastern as an assistant in 2000, just before Robinson and Wright wound up at Odessa together. Wright’s presence helped Robinson out there, and they were going to be a package deal for schools recruiting them – but they only had one school in mind all along.
“It was like I had somebody there that I trusted that was like family,” Robinson says of his time there with Wright. “We agreed when we were there that we were going where Frank was at, I’m not even considering another school.” Both signed with Northeastern and arrived in the fall of 2001.
Off the court, Robinson is no different. Everhart talks about his fierce loyalty and knowing that if Robinson’s your friend, there’s no doubt about it. Martin says that there are kids you’re happy to see graduate because they were difficult to coach, but Robinson is far from one of those guys. Described by Barnes as a movie buff, Robinson seems to have a magical connection with young kids, especially with the community work he used to do in Miami.
“I love kids,” Robinson says. “It just comes naturally to me. I want them to do things that I never got the chance to do. It was never really a fun experience for me as a kid, so when I look at kids and I see the fun that they had, I still think of that inside of me.”
Robinson will graduate this year with a degree in Criminal Justice, and when basketball is all done, he’s thinking about opening some business, with real estate as one specific that he mentions. He has liked the area, save for the cold weather, but that hasn’t dampened his experience. Although he will be leaving the program, his mark will be there.
“I think he’s set the bar, for not only himself and his teammates that are here currently, but I think he’s set the bar for the types of guys that we want to go recruit down the road in the future,” Everhart reflects. “One of the more proud days I’ll ever have as a coach is watching him walk across that stage and having that piece of paper in his hands because I know how hard he’s worked for that. He’s overcome a lot of obstacles to get there.”
Robinson figures he hasn’t had the last of his struggles in life. But based on how he’s handled the major obstacles thus far in his life, he seems well-prepared to clear any other hurdles in his life.
“I think he’s the type of guy who’s going to make opportunities for himself,” Everhart says.
