Stanley Earl Robinson (July 14, 1988July 21, 2020) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He primarily played the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position, but occasionally assumed the role of a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

as well. Robinson played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

. He went on to play most of his professional career in South America.

Early life

Robinson was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, on July 14, 1988. He studied at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, and played

with the

. In the run-up to the NBA draft in June 2010, he was described as a "strong offensive rebounder" and an "explosive finisher". However, his quickness was somewhat cancelled out by mediocre ball-handling, and it was predicted that the absence of major development in his four years of college basketball would lead him to be selected in round two.

Professional career

Robinson was selected in the second round of the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Daylight Time (2300 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC), was broadcast in the ...

by the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

with the 59th overall pick. He signed a non-guaranteed, one-year contract with the Magic. However, Robinson was waived following the conclusion of training camp in October 2010. For the 2011–2012 season, Robinson played with the Iowa Energy of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. On October 17, 2013, Robinson signed with the Moncton Miracles of the

National Basketball League of Canada The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; ) was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchis ...

(NBL). However, on February 5, 2014, he was released due to an injury. Robinson resigned with the Miracles on September 25 of that year. On September 7, 2015, Robinson signed with Leones de Quilpué, a Chilean club that plays in the

Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile The Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile, also known as the LNB Chile, is the top national basketball leagues in Chile, it is a professional league, organized by the Federación de Básquetbol de Chile. The league was created in 2010 and the old ...

(LNB). The following July he moved to the Dominican Republic to play for

Reales de La Vega Reales de La Vega is a professional basketball team based in La Vega Province, Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, N ...

, and in September 2016 he came back to Chile with Deportivo Valdivia, then in November he joined

Defensor Sporting Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievement ...

in Uruguay. In November 2017, Robinson signed with

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla. Disappointed by his physical shape, Keflavík announced on January 2, 2018, they had released him and signed Dominique Elliott in his place. In five games in the Úrvalsdeild, Robinson averaged 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds. In January 2018, Robinson signed with Club Escuela de Básquetbol Puerto Montt. That September, he moved to Español de Talca also in Chile.

Personal life

Robinson was father to three daughters, and had moved back to his hometown of Birmingham.

Death

Robinson was found unresponsive in his

home on July 21, 2020, a week after his 32nd birthday. He died from an accidental opioid overdose, the Jefferson County Coroner reported. The cause of death is officially listed as "fentanyl toxicity".

References

External links