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Will Robinson, the first black basketball coach at a Division I school and a Detroit Pistons scout who discovered Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman, died Monday at a Detroit hospital. He was 96.
Robinson had been ailing for 15 months and living in a nursing home for more than a year, according to Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek.
In the 1970s, Robinson broke the racial barrier when he became coach of Illinois State. The Pistons hired him as a scout in 1976, and the additions of Dumars and Rodman were keys to Detroit's 1989 and 1990 NBA championships. Those teams were coached by Chuck Daly, only because Robinson had declined former general manager Jack McCloskey's initial offer to lead the team.
"Will Robinson was truly a legend and will be missed dearly," Dumars told the Associated Press. "He was a huge inspiration for me and so many others. He was simply the best."
A viewing is scheduled in Detroit on Friday. After the funeral Saturday, a celebration of Robinson's life will be held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
