Will Obama watch basketball Saturday at GW?

By David Driver
Posted: November 25, 2009

President Barack Obama met with his war council Monday to talk about what to do in Afghanistan. And Obama is scheduled to address the nation on the topic on Dec. 1. So what are the chances Obama will slip out of the White House and head a few blocks west to watch the George Washington University men’s basketball team play on Saturday at 2 p.m.?

Sure, the Colonials were just 10-18 overall and play in the Atlantic 10 conference, which is not the ACC or Big East. Most people know Obama plays hoops and is a big basketball fan, but it is family ties that could get the lefty shooter out of the White House for a few hours to see the Colonials in Foggy Bottom. “Everything is possible,” Craig Robinson told me in a phone interview Tuesday morning. Robinson is the coach of Oregon State, which plays at GW on Saturday. Robinson, in his second season at OSU, also happens to be the brother of Michelle Obama, the First Lady.

“We are looking forward to going out there,” said Robinson, whose team lost at Howard University last season in Robinson’s first game with the Beavers. Robinson said he plans to see his sister this week, though no firm plans had been made (or at least revealed) as of Tuesday. Last year his team got to take a tour of Senate office where Obama used to work, and also toured the Capitol building. This year the team also hopes to take in some of the D.C. sites. But will Robinson get to see the president? “He has a lot on his plate. I hope so. But it is Thanksgiving weekend,” Robinson noted. He said his team plans to arrive in the area on Thursday and leave town on Sunday morning.

So what is it like to have a brother-in-law with a nice jumper who practiced with the University of North Carolina men’s team before last season? “I am talking more than hoops with him. He is my brother-in-law. I am aware of his basketball abilities. It is more about talking about other things,” said Robinson, who seemed annoyed with the question. “But he is a huge basketball fan.”

Robinson scored 1,441 points during his college career at Princeton, where he graduated in 1983 with an AB (Arts of Bachelor degree) in sociology. Robinson was the coach at Brown in Rhode Island before he took over at Oregon State, which went 18-18 last year — an improvement of 12 games from the previous season. The Beavers are 1-3 overall going into Saturday’s game at GWU.

The OSU roster includes senior foward Calvin Hampton, who is from Fort Washington, in Prince George’s County, and a graduate of Friendly High School. Hampton played in 30 games last year and averaged 5.5 minutes and 1.1 points per outing. Hampton is averaging 8.8 minutes and 2.0 points per game this year. “He is an excellent athlete, a great defender. He brings a lot of energy to this team and he is one of the leaders,” Robinson said of Hampton. And perhaps the president will be there to see Hampton, Robinson and the rest of the Beavers.

Comment on this entry • View 1 response

user kanewbs says...

Who CARES if Obama watches the ball game? He should be doing his JOB instead! He has time to attend the game, but can't meet with the person HE chose to advise him on Afghanistan??? Meanwhile our troops are DYING while he watches a game. Pathetic.

Posted 2:18 PM, 11.25.09 | Permalink