Polk Robison (May 24, 1912 – June 27, 2008) was an American collegiate

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and football coach and college athletics administrator who served as the head coach of the

Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team represents Texas Tech University in basketball. Texas Tech competes in NCAA Division I, and has been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference since its first season in 1996. The team previously compet ...

team from 1942 to 1946 and again from 1947 to 1961. He served as the university's athletic director from 1961 to 1969.

Student

As a student at Texas Tech, Robison tried out for the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

but did not make the cut. However, he did letter in basketball and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

. After graduating in 1934, he helped coach football and tennis in the 1940s.Don Williams - Saluting a Tech legend turned 90 05/24/02
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Head basketball coach

Robison coached the Red Raiders basketball teams to their first NCAA tournament appearances—in 1954,

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

, and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. His overall record at the school was 254–195.

Athletic director

After stepping down from his coaching position in 1961, Robison served as the athletic director at Texas Tech until 1969. He served two more years on the athletics staff before finally retiring in 1971. To honor Robison's years of service, the Polk Robison Men's Basketball Hall of Honor was created in 2003. It is located on the north side of the main lobby of United Supermarkets Arena.

Death

Robison died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a disti ...

on Friday, June 27, 2008 at the age of 96.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robison, Polk 1912 births 2008 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Texas Tech Red Raiders athletic directors Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Place of birth missing