Glenn Robinson's children following different paths to athletic stardom
While Glenn Robinson Jr. is best known as the NBA's No. 1 overall pick in 1994 and Glenn Robinson III is projected as a first-round pick in next month's NBA draft, Big Dog's family isn't all about basketball.
The former college basketball player of the year's two other children, Gelen and Jaimie, are among the favorites in their respective track and field disciplines to capture state championships this spring.
In the final season of a remarkable three-sport career at St. John (Ind.) Lake Central High, Gelen Robinson currently owns Indiana's top discus throw (186 feet, 2 inches) and one of the state's best shot puts.
Gelen won the Post-Tribune's Football Defensive Player of the Year honor for a third straight time in the fall and capped his second straight undefeated wrestling season with back-to-back state titles in the 220-pound weight division. He will follow in his father's footsteps to Purdue, only as a defensive end recruit.
"For one thing, he can't play basketball," his mother, Shantelle Clay-Erving, told the Indianapolis Star during the wrestling season. "It's probably the only sport he can't play."
Meanwhile, Gelen's younger sister Jaimie has quickly become a premier track talent in Illinois as a freshman despite picking up the sport last year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She owns the top triple jump (37-11.5) and a competitve long jump (17-4) entering this weekend's Class 2A state meet.
As for how their dad feels about all of this, "He's pretty supportive of what I do," Jaimie told the Sun-Times. "Even though he's like, 'You should try basketball.' But he knows I'm into track."
Forget the Kardashians. Keeping up with the Robinsons seems like a far more difficult task.
