NCAA Basketball

Kansas Basketball Player Must Care For Sister After Mother’s, Grandparents’ Deaths

We hope you don’t read anything sadder today than this story from The Topeka Capital-Journal on University of Kansas basketball player Thomas Robinson. Robinson is taking a leave of absence from the team out of necessity – he’s going back to his native Washington, D.C. to care for his nine-year-old sister, Jayla. Certainly, extremely admirable on Robinson’s part. But the reason he has to do it is devastating – his mother recently died of a heart attack at just 37, and adding to the grief, Robinson also recently lost two grandparents.

Obviously a story like this is crushing any way one looks at it, but it really hits home when writer Kevin Haskin describes Jayla as “the last surviving member of [Robinson's] family.” As easy as it is to feel terrible for Robinson for all he’d going through right now, though, it’s just as easy to come away impressed with how he’s handling it all. In addition to the way he’s looking after his sister when, for the moment, he’s about all she has, there’s this tidbit from a teammate:

“The day of the [Texas] game,” said senior guard Tyrel Reed, “he told us, ‘Hey guys, I don’t want you to treat me any different. That showed so much maturity.”

Kansas lost that game, but now it’s clear players had a lot on their minds – coach Bill Self described them as “emotionally spent.” And if there’s any good news coming out of all this, it’s how many people – including teammates – are showing genuine concern for Robinson. Let the record show, for example, that the NCAA is not completely heartless: Haskin noted in his piece that the organization is letting Kansas help Robinson with funeral costs (services for both his grandfather and mother take place this week).

In addition, Barry Hinson, KU’s director of basketball operations, is helping Robinson with the planning that unfortunately must now be done, and even people with more indirect connections to the program are trying to do all they can:

Friends of Self who live in Texas offered to move to Lawrence and seek guardianship of Jayla without ever meeting Robinson or his sister. Others offered to go to Washington and help in any way possible.

As tragic as a situation like this is, it does seem to bring out the best in people. The closest comparison we can think of in sports to this level of loss, so quickly, is Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett, who lost his mother, father and brother in a 16-month span. The strength shown by people like Robinson and Brackett is inspiring – if only we cold find out about that strength some other way.

Photo via