Robinson earned first-team All-America honors by Basketball Weekly, United Savings and the Helms Foundation after averaging a school-record 29.4 points per game as a senior.

He was known back then for his great shooting range.

"Wil hit one from about 40 once at the buzzer to beat Manhattan," recalled former WVU assistant coach Gary McPherson.

For those who followed West Virginia basketball at the time,Robinson played on average teams. The Mountaineers managed just an 11-15 record in 1970, a 13-12 mark in 1971, and a 13-11 record in 1972.

However, West Virginia had just left the Southern Conference and began playing a non-conference schedule that included Kentucky, Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Davidson and Bobby Knight-coached Army.

"The schedule was brutal," Robinson noted.

"Our fans loved the schedule for about the first month," McPherson joked. "Then it wasn't so great."

Wil Robinson became Coach Sonny Moran's cornerstone player, averaging 20 points per game as a sophomore and 25 points as a junior.

By 1972, Moran had put together a formidable team that included a talented trio of Charleston players in 6-foot-6 forward Larry Harris, 6-foot-3 guard Levi Phillips and 6-foot-1 guard Curt Price. Sam Ogelsby, a 6-foot-5 junior college forward from Columbia, S.C., Mike Heitz, a 7-foot center from, Garrett Ind., and Dave Werthman, a 6-foot-7 forward from Pittsburgh, joined Robinson to complete Moran's seven-man rotation.

This was to be the team that was going to turn around West Virginia's sagging basketball fortunes.

West Virginia reeled off six straight wins to start the '71-72 season, including an 87-75 win over Norm Sloan's N.C. State team in Morgantown.

Then a tragic automobile accident left Harris dead and Ogelsby permanently injured. Phillips was an academic casualty, backup 6-foot-9 forward Robert Hornstein suffered a collapsed lung, 6-foot-8 center Gary Reichenbecher sustained an injured ankle and Werthman broke his collarbone.

Practically all that was left was Robinson.

"It was just devastating to our team," Robinson remembered about the accident that claimed his roommate. "We had mended together for a couple of years and I thought we were as good as any team in the nation that year."

"I believe those circumstances ultimately led to the coaching staff being fired a few years later," McPherson added.

Following the tragic accident, Robinson became the team's primary scorer. He pumped in 41 at the Coliseum against Virginia Tech, lit up Notre Dame for 39 in South Bend, drilled Navy for 37 three days later, and poured in 40 against Virginia at the Charleston Civic Center.

Robinson continued with a 31-point effort against William & Mary, scored 45 at Furman, had 29 against Penn State, dumped 41 on Manhattan, threw 32 more down against Virginia Tech and finished his career with 42 against Pitt.

His scoring average was 26.9 points per game before the accident. After that, Robinson averaged 31.2 points including five games with 40 or more. Remove a seven-point effort at Richmond when he fouled out, and Robinson's scoring average was 33.1 points per game for the remainder of the year.

No West Virginia player, including Hall of Famer Jerry West, has had a scoring stretch quite like that.

"Wil faced double and triple teams every night," McPherson marveled.

Robinson finished his career with 1,850 points, trailing just West (2,309) and Hundley (2,180) on WVU's all-time scoring list.

Unlike West and Hundley, however, Robinson made his living from behind the top of the key. There's no telling how many points Robinson could have scored with a three-point line.

"I often wonder," Robinson said.

Robinson holds the Coliseum record with 45 points against Penn State in 1971, and owns six of the seven all-time single-game scoring efforts at the 30-year-old facility.

"He is one of the hardest offensive players I've defended in 22 years of college coaching," admitted Penn State coach John Bach after Wil's record-setting game.

The most ever scored in the building was 47 by Notre Dame's Austin Carr.

Much later, McPherson once ran into Carr and reminded him of his 47-point performance at the Coliseum in 1971. Carr smiled and recalled West Virginia having a great scorer in that game as well.

Of course the Notre Dame great was referring to Robinson.

"Wil had the quickest jump shot you ever saw," said McPherson. "He could stop on a dime and shoot it."

Despite his great success, the Laurel Highlands High School graduate was sometimes viewed with indifference by West Virginia's passionate fans.

Some complained that he shot too much and didn't play defense. Others said he could never go to his left.

"He didn't have to," McPherson said. "No one could stop him anyway."

Once, after being voted MVP of the Mountaineer Classic, some WVU fans booed Robinson when he was called to accept his trophy.

Robinson says that incident didn't bother him too much. Wil was also the target of some benign ribbing from his teammates from time to time as well.

Once during a game at George Washington in 1970, the 6-foot-1 guard, then a sophomore, was distracted by the partial GW crowd. With the game on the line, West Virginia signaled timeout to set up a final shot to win it. Moran gave specific instructions in the huddle.

"Look over at the bench and don't shoot the ball until we give you the signal," the coach hollered.

When play resumed, the ball came to Robinson. The George Washington fans began counting down … 10 … nine … eight … seven. Robinson fired a 30-footer that missed everything with plenty of time left on the clock.

West Virginia wound up winning, 92-91 in overtime. After the game, Robinson's teammates were on him pretty hard in the locker room.

"Hey, I thought they were telling the truth!" was Robinson's response to the ribbing.

Dick Symons, a 6-foot-5 forward from Toronto, Ohio, pointed out, "This is Washington, D.C. ... nobody tells the truth here!"

Another time while Robinson was attempting a free throw at Pitt (a school that heavily recruited him) a Panther student lobbed a dead fish out on the floor.

"That was a crazy place," Robinson laughed.

Despite being the target of other schools, Robinson only lost his cool once during a game at North Carolina State. The Wolfpack played Robinson tough, fouling him hard on drives to the basket and making his life miserable.

Finally he had had enough.

While Robinson dribbled down court toward the basket on the way for another easy layup, Wolfpack forward Bob Heuts tackled him from behind.

The two went flying into the stands.

Robinson answered by bouncing the basketball off Heuts' head. According to Mickey Furfari's unbiased report in the Dominion News, Robinson was ejected by Otis Allmond, an ACC official, and spent the remainder of the game on the bench in street clothes.

"I didn't hit him very hard with the ball," Robinson laughed.

Following college, the Houston Rockets drafted Robinson in the fourth round. The guard thought he had the team made. But player-coach John Egan needed one more year to get a pension, so he convinced the Rockets to keep him on the roster and Robinson was released.

"They cut Jim Silas before they cut me," Robinson admitted. "He was able to get picked up in time but I wasn't."

Silas went on to spend 10 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing in two ABA all-star games.

"The timing was really off for me, " Robinson sighed. "When I came out of West Virginia, I was ready to sign a three-year, no-cut, contract with the Pittsburgh Condors and then the franchise folded.

"I was forced to go to Houston, and they really didn't need me," he continued. "They were loaded with guards."

After Houston, Robinson worked out in Cincinnati with his agent until another opportunity came up in Utah the following year.

Robinson again was released and wound up joining the Memphis Tams of the ABA in the middle of the 1973-74 season. He played a total of 45 games, averaging 8.6 points per game.

"I ended up starting the last 30 games of the year," Robinson recalled.

In 1974, the Tams were sold and Robinson found himself again in the position of having to try out to make the team.

"That was it for me with professional basketball," Robinson said.

He went back to WVU, completed his degree and served a year on Sonny Moran's staff as a graduate assistant coach.

Soon after Moran was fired, Robinson left basketball to begin working at Roadway Express near Harrisburg, Pa. He completed