This afternoon I received a call from Papa John Roberson of San Antonio, TX preceded by a text with a link to the 2013 NBA Mock Draft. He asked my thoughts after seeing that his son, Andre was the #4 overall pick in that publication. I replied the following:
1. Get an insurance policy
2. Looks like the Roberson Clan would be living large
3. Make sure his boy sponsors a D1 Ambassadors team out of his native San Antonio!..lol
"Who'd a thunk it?" Roberson was a standout player at Converse Wagner High School in the suburbs of San Antonio who along with Tulsa's Jordan Clarkson twice led his team to the Texas 5A Final Four. Papa John played at New Mexico State and then followed it up with a 13 year pro career. When Roberson left high school he was razor thin but had a reputation of rebounding fiercely against much bigger players. I sat with the UCLA coaches during the 2010 Texas High School Playoffs and all but begged them to take a flier on young Andre. They were intrigued, but resisted as they didn't think he could help them immediately.
Colorado Buffaloes Soph Forward 6'7" Andre Roberson
(Photo compliments of Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Andre was scheduled to visit Penn State in late April of 2010 when he travelled to Denver for a spring tournament (Best Buy Spring Showcase) when he joined his Texas D1 Ambassadors team mates for an unofficial visit to Boulder. He immediately fell in love with the campus.
Time moves on. Roberson (far right) enjoyed his unofficial to Colorado in April of 2010. That was a pretty good crew. From left to right: Coach Max Ivany, Jake Kocher (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Alex Caruso (who just returned from his official visit to Colorado yesterday), Jalen Washington (Kilgore JC), Jaleel Williams (San Jose State), Deon Mitchell (Northern Iowa), Big Dave Hahn, Reinier Strobos (the brains of the operation who is now a freshman at M.I.T.). Missing from picture is Dylan Elias (Northern Colorado)
Just in case Andre starts getting a big head, his older sisters will rein him in. Ashlee played basketball for Texas Tech and then professionally last year in Romania leading her team to the Romanian Cup and the Central European Championship and sister Amber is s 4 year starter for the Texas Longhorns nationally ranked volleyball team. As the Buffs 6th man last season as a true freshman, Roberson averaged 22 minutes, 6.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
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