Rick Robey - A Unique Athlete (continued from page 34)

Robey was chosen for the US basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. “I played with Robert Parish, who was the high school Player of the Year in Louisiana two years before I was. I was in my first year at Kentucky, and they weren’t inviting freshmen to try out. But Kentucky’s legendary coach Adolph Rupp was on the Olympic Board, and he was able to get me a tryout where they brought in 80 college players. Twelve of us made the team. We traveled all over Canada playing the Canadian National Team before we went to Mexico City.”

The Indiana Pacers selected Robey with the #3 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft. “About two months into the season, I played against Dave Cowens, the player-coach of the Celtics. After the game, he said, ‘Rick, we’re going to make a trade for you.’ So I played with Boston the next five years. They drafted Larry Bird in the same draft I was in, but he went back to college. The Celtics signed him before the next draft. They were able to make a trade for Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in the next draft. That’s when the Celtics became rejuvenated when Bird, Parish, and McHale played together. We won the NBA Championship in 1981.”

After four seasons with the Celtics, Rick was traded to the Phoenix Suns. “I was plagued with injuries but stayed three years thanks to a guaranteed contract. I didn’t play a whole lot the last two years because of an Achilles injury.”

So he retired and returned to Kentucky, where he got into the real estate business. “I did really well in it.”

“I met my wife of 36 years in Lexington after my playing days. We have one child, Sam, who’s 33. He ended up being Kentucky Player of the Year in football.

He was recruited by Florida where he played five years on the offensive line. He played with the Tim Tebow group that won the national title at Florida.”

Rick has stayed in touch over the years with two of his Brother Martin teammates, Tom Cronin ’74 and Jim McCulla ’74.

“I’ve been very blessed in my sports career plus lucky enough to get into something I really enjoyed. My sports career made me a better businessperson too.”

Matt Massey ’93, Regional VP for Raising Cane’s, has been instrumental building a relationship between Cane’s and Brother Martin High School. Raising Cane’s is one of our four Conlin Gymnasium Scoreboard Sponsors. As a token of our appreciation, Barry Hebert ’74 presented Cane’s and Matt with a special jersey.

Brother Martin High School 4401 Elysian Fields Avenue New Orleans, Louisiana