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FeedPower of One
Greg Robbins picks hoops—and a Virginia university couldn’t be happier.
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He wasn’t thinking about redemption—or his four fouls. He didn’t care about that ugly three-pointer a couple minutes earlier, the one that barely skimmed the iron. “Just instinct,” recalls Greg Robbins.
Tie game, overtime, up goes the shot. No good, and there’s the ball, right in front of him. Only so is a 6-foot, 3-inch black-and-gold barricade. A mere 1:39 to go. Instinct. Don’t grab. Don’t push. Just a tip. A flick of the wrist.
Money. Suddenly, the frustrations melt away. There’s a two-point lead to protect, and protect it they do. When it’s over, and the four-point playoff victory for Lower Merion High School is sealed in the record books, Robbins can reflect briefly on the moment. “That’s a play I don’t usually do,” he says of the tip-in. “I usually come down with the rebound.”
This time, he didn’t. It could’ve been a subconscious reminder that, had he tried to rebound teammate Alon Seltzer’s errant three-pointer from the right corner, he would’ve almost surely committed his fifth foul.
Whether the thought process was that involved or not may never be known. The play was there to be made, and Robbins made it. His tip gave Lower Merion a 41-39 lead, and four free throws later, the Aces had survived February’s second-round district tournament tussle with Central Bucks High School West, 45-41.
Robbins’ key play was an indication of the maturity of his game. Sure, he has substantial physical skills, but his knowledge of how to play and his ability to shine at the proper moment have been traits since he started on Lower Merion’s 2006 state title team. “He has a certain clutchness to him,” coach Gregg Downer says of the wily, small forward.
That ability to deliver in situations when others suffocate from the pressure—or just plain run from the responsibility—is the byproduct of an athletic career played out at the highest levels. Since he began playing soccer at 5 years old, Robbins has faced elite opposition and competed in national showcases. His sense of delivering when stress mounts has been honed further by the difficult decision he had to make two years ago: basketball or soccer?
On the court, he was receiving interest from top-flight collegiate programs. And why not? He started on Lower Merion’s state title team and has been a stalwart of the program ever since. On the field, he ascended to the top of the age-group heap, representing the perennially mighty FC Delco in tournaments throughout the country. Put a ball in Robbins hand or on his foot, and he has no problems. Ask him to choose between the athletic loves of his young life, and a few cracks appear.
“It got to the point where I knew I wasn’t going to play two sports in college,” Robbins says. “I needed to make a decision to get as good as I could in one sport. I always liked basketball a little bit more and always was more attracted to it. I knew it was going to be my choice, but I took a while with the decision.
“I had to leave a [soccer] team I had played with for a long time, and there were a couple kids on that team that had been on every travel soccer team I had ever played on. Since I started playing organized soccer, I had played in every game with them. I had a bunch of really close friends on that team, and I had to leave that behind.”
After his sophomore year, Robbins committed to basketball full time and began the process of dedicating 12 months—not eight—to the game. That may sound excessive to some, but in reality, he had fallen behind the players who’d been doing that for years. The ideal of the three-sport athlete is passé. Today, kids are encouraged to specialize before they hit double figures. “I think playing one sport is what gets you to the top quickest,” Downer says.
