The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2018-19 BY MATT CARTER R oy Roberson has helped turn a once- proud high school program that had fallen on hard times into a district powerhouse. Now he hopes to help an old friend return NC State to its days of being a yearly ACC contender. When Roberson took the job at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Va., to say that Glass had been struggling would be an un- derstatement. In its previous three seasons, the Hilltoppers had a dubious 0-24 mark in conference action. Roberson started in 2006, and within two years Glass was in the re- gional playoffs. In the final 100 district games he coached at Glass, the Hilltoppers won 80 percent of the time (80-20), reached two final fours in the state tournament and two additional final eights. It was not easy, though. "Everybody loves a winner," Roberson noted. "It's one of those deals, what comes first — the chicken or the egg?" Roberson's first priority at Glass was to bring back some of the pride in the school that he himself had when he played there before going to Lynchburg College, where he scored 1,169 career points. He also learned patience, even when tested. Roberson said it took four years before the program began to come together in his vision, which was built around a disciplined culture that valued attention to detail. Along the way, though, he had his doubts. "And any coach who said they didn't have doubts probably would be telling a lie," Rob- erson noted. "I just tried to hold true to my values, and we were fortunate enough to overcome it." Admiring the job done by Roberson from afar was NC State second-year head coach Kevin Keatts. Both are Lynchburg natives, but Roberson is two years older. They played together on playgrounds and then in adult leagues, cultivating a close friendship that included casual, generic conversations about perhaps one day coaching together. That opportunity arrived this summer when one of Keatts' three assistants on his first staff at NC State, A.W. Hamilton, was hired to be the head coach at Eastern Kentucky. "I guess this was just a situation where all the boxes got checked and all the stars aligned, and it was the right opportunity and right time," Roberson explained. Basketball has always been a significant part of Roberson's life. His ambition in college was to become a high school math teacher and basketball coach. However, he majored in accounting and was initially drawn into the business world after graduating from Lynchburg, eventually starting his own busi- ness, Roberson Financial Services. "Never lost my passion and my love for the game," Roberson recalled. "A friend of mine got a high school job and asked me to be his assistant, which I did for three years and one thing just led to another." While Roberson was writing success sto- ries at Glass, the college game was also in- triguing him. Thus far the jump from high school to the highest level of college basket- ball has progressed seamlessly. "When you get in the gym the games are the same," Roberson said. "Young men are just a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, a little bit more athletic, but basketball is bas- ketball. It's always refreshing to be in the gym and black everything out." The biggest adjustment will be shifting from the lead role to being part of the sup- porting cast for Keatts. In Lynchburg, Rob- erson admitted he had a reputation for being a passionate coach on the sideline, although he was able to keep technical fouls to a mini- mum of about one a year. His role of getting on his players and the officials, for now, is secondary to his new responsibilities. "There's always a good cop, bad cop rela- tionship," Roberson observed. "As for assis- tant coaches, their role is to be supportive of the head coach and forge great relationships with the student-athletes, support whatever [they need] and be there to cool them down when the coach typically pours gas on them. "Coach and I have very similar coaching philosophies in how we feel about defense, how we feel about tempo … the only differ- ence is I have to be more of a support role as opposed to a leadership role." Perhaps the biggest adjustment for Rober- son is dealing with recruiting. He learned this summer that he will be traveling a lot more than he has ever done before. "I jokingly say recruiting is a different animal, but if I can go to a husband and wife in a business setting and talk to people about money and all of the stuff that we all need but people don't want to have those conver- sations [about], I certainly should be able to transfer that skill set and talk to kids about chasing their passion of playing college bas- ketball," Roberson said. "I think some of the dynamics are very transferrable." What Keatts and the Pack are also hop- ing is transferrable are some of Roberson's success stories of building a program from conference doormat to powerhouse. ■ Roberson spent the last 12 seasons as the head coach at E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Va. PHOTO BY JACEY ZEMBAL "Coach and I have very similar coaching philosophies in how we feel about defense, how we feel about tempo … the only difference is I have to be more of a support role as opposed to a leadership role." ■ Roberson on joining Keatts' staff Helping A Friend After A Successful Run Coaching High School Basketball, Roy Roberson Joins Kevin Keatts' Staff