Name a school for Will

In the June edition of the 'Native Sun', I wrote a 'Telford Telescope' column about the iconic old Detroit coach Will Robinson. It featured a picture of Will and me with my second wife, Gina Telford taken in 2006 when Will was 95 years old. In 2015, I wrote Will's biography--''Will the FIRST - The Saga of Sports/Civil-Rights Pioneer WILL ROBINSON.' The book is 342 pages, illustrated with 27 photographs, and a photo of the statue of Will with his All-American player Doug Collins is on the front cover of the book, which is available at the book division of amazon.com (type in Dr. john Telford to go to the page). For fifteen dollars, I also mail an autographed copy of the book to anyone who calls me at (313) 460-8272 or emails

me at [email protected].

At this very moment, that huge statue honoring Will stands on the Illinois State University campus. DPSCD must now name a school for Will Robinson, that legendary Miller/Cass Tech/Pershing basketball coach of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In addition to having been an All-State high school quarterback in Ohio, Will was an All-American quarterback at West Virginia State. He also was the first NCAA Division One African-American basketball coach at Illinois State University, a scout for the Detroit Lions and Pistons, and the first black executive in the NBA as the Pistons' assistant general manager. He coached city and state basketball champions at the old Detroit Miller High School--and later at Pershing, where I also coached city and

state champions in track when Will was coaching basketball there.

When Will passed in 2008 at the age of 96, Time Magazine marked his passing, and I went to a school board meeting, demanded that they name a school for Will, and waved a copy of the magazine in the board's faces--but to no avail.

When I was the DPS superintendent in 2012-2013, then-board-president LaMar Lemmons and I had intended to re-name Pershing High School for Will, but the then-emergency financial manager became the fully empowered emergency manager when PA 436 was enacted, and the EM fired me immediately and dis-empowered that good board, thus foiling our progressive goals, including that one.

During this past June, my crusade to convince the current DPSCD superintendent and board to name a school for Will gained steam. I reached out to Ann Connally, president of the Pershing Alumni Association, and to old students and athletes whom Will mentored. They all responded overwhelmingly--including former professional basket ball stars Spencer Haywood and Ralph Simpson, and old Baltimore Colts wide receiver Glenn Doughty. I forwarded many of their emails to DPSCD superintendent Nikolai Vitti, board president Angelique Peterson-Mayberry, and all of the board members with my repeated request that they now name a school for Will Robinson. It will be a memorial to this towering Detroit icon that is so long overdue.

Hear former NCAA All-American and world-ranked sprinter John Telford on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. and Mon-days at 6:30 p.m. on WCHB AM1340, and watch him on WJZZ Coot TV on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.--also streaming on Facebook, U-Tube, and Twitter.