Twenty-seven years and five Elite Eights later, Norm Roberts is finally going to experience the sport’s premier event firsthand. After coaching at seven different schools, and attending the event virtually every year as a spectator, the former St. John’s head coach will get a shot at the Final Four this weekend in San Antonio.
“It’s probably the most excited I’ve ever been in coaching,” the 52-year-old Queens native and Kansas assistant coach said in a phone interview. “I’m going and getting a chance to coach in the game I’ve always seen from afar.”
Roberts had been close several times before, reaching the Elite Eight on five occasions, alongside Bill Self with Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas. Finally, Sunday he got over the hump, as the top-seeded Jayhawks edged No. 2 Duke, 85-81, in an unforgettable Midwest Region final in Omaha, Neb.
“For me, it’s probably one of the greatest times in my life, as a part of getting us to the pinnacle [of college basketball],” he said as the Jayhawks began preparations to face fellow top-seed Villanova on Saturday night. “The way we won it, in overtime against the type of team we won it against, it made it really, really special for me and my family. It was emotional.”
Roberts had a big hand in the victory, as the lead recruiter for two of the Kansas stars, senior point guard and Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte’ Graham and center Udoka Azubuike. Roberts was recruiting other players at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire when he spotted Graham several years back. He was immediately impressed by the guard’s poise, patience and ability. Signed to Appalachian State at the time, Graham ended up getting out of his National Letter of Intent, and wound up at Kansas.“It really worked out well for us,” said Roberts, who rejoined Self in Kansas following the 2011-12 season.
The former Springfield Gardens and Queens College star would like to get another shot at being a head coach at the Division I level, but it remains to be seen if that will happen after he failed to reach an NCAA Tournament in six seasons at St. John’s, compiling an 81-101 record. He doesn’t seem in a rush to leave Kansas. Roberts said he hasn’t been involved in many openings, and didn’t even consider looking elsewhere until his son Justin graduated high school two years ago.
“I’d like to have another shot at doing it, that would be great,” he said. “But I’m not going to evaluate myself on that. I’ve been totally blessed.
“When you get to my age, you want to be successful, but you want to enjoy what you’re doing, and I enjoy what I’m doing here. I’m just happy to be in the situation I’m in right now.”
Roberts still follows St. John’s and has a strong relationship with head coach Chris Mullin. He was impressed how Mullin kept the Red Storm together during the 0-11 start to the Big East season, and how well they played down the stretch. But he doesn’t necessarily miss Queens.
In Kansas, college basketball, especially the Jayhawks, is king. It’s a different world in that part of the country.
“The one thing at Kansas that’s unique, the support here is ridiculous,” he said. “Besides baseball and the Chiefs, Kansas basketball is the biggest thing in the state. In New York, you got everybody. You have so many teams and so many ways for people to be pulled in different directions, it makes it so hard to separate yourself from other situations. When the season is going on [here], the Jayhawks are the biggest thing happening.”
It’s been a memorable year for Roberts. He got to coach against Justin, a sophomore guard for Toledo who scored four points in a loss to Kansas. And now he will get to experience the Final Four, and reunite with his older son, Niko, a former Kansas walk-on who now works for the NCAA.
“Getting to the Final Four,” Roberts said, “was kind of the last real big goal I had not accomplished.”