Hassan Robinson's Proudest Achievement | Springfield College

Hassan Robinson's Proudest Achievement

Where do you start when describing the career highlights of Hassan Robinson ‘95? Is it the records that he broke, playing in the college world series, or maybe being drafted by a professional baseball organization?

For Robinson, who has a remarkable memory, describing his experiences at Springfield College always involves some type of personification. Every step of the process is tied to a name and a face who helped him along the way.

When he talks about being recruited, he lists his mentors who also happened to be Springfield College alumni: his high school basketball coach Steve Hefele G’84, plus his basketball coach Bill Wenning G’85, baseball coach Wayne Hancock ‘75, and school dean Wayne Sanborn ‘72 when Robinson was completing his prep year at Cushing Academy.

When he thinks of the support he received as an undergraduate his mind goes right to his advisor, Professor of Education Susan McCarthy Miller, PhD: “She was awesome. All the professors were so supportive of everything I was doing because they understood what I was going through.”

Even when talking about breaking the College’s all-time scoring record in basketball, the number is less important to him than the names he passed.

“You look at the list they had at the time of all those guys: Ramses Kelly (‘91), Buddy Clarke (‘83), the list goes on. All these names that were huge at Springfield College and to pass them was pretty big,” Robinson said.

A star athlete at Cushing Academy, Robinson had several offers from Division I mid-major conference programs to play basketball but he still chose Springfield College. It was the right size, had the academics he was looking for, he could play two sports, and he was offered a scholarship to play in a competitive Division II conference.

“I felt at home as soon as I visited,” he said.

Robison’s list of athletic achievements are long and impressive: a NCAA Division II baseball record for hitting in 38 consecutive games, the Springfield College record for career home runs in a season, the Springfield College record for most total bases in a season, and defensive player of the year, freshman of the year, player of the year, and numerous all-star selections in basketball, among others. Despite all the accolades, his proudest moment remains fulfilling his commitment to come back and complete his senior year.

Robinson was on a basketball scholarship but was drafted by the Houston Astros baseball organization his junior year (he was also invited to the NBA camp his senior year but was already playing baseball by then).

“I was supposed to get drafted earlier but I told every team that I wanted to come back and fulfill my commitment at Springfield College, not only for basketball but to continue my education,” said Robinson. “That was a big deal for me.”

Robinson always knew he wanted to be a teacher. The history and secondary education major soon found himself working in education after his baseball career had ended.

The leadership qualities instilled in him by his family and coaches continued to stay with him.

“As a teacher, I’d always looked toward administrative positions because I knew that was the path for me. Now I’m a vice principal thanks to the people who have been role models and mentored me into being the leader I am now,” he said.