I was surprised to learn recently that former Cumberland University cager Dan Robison has not been nominated to the Henry County Sports Hall of Fame.

For starters, Robison, a member of a pioneer Paris family, was the starting center. He was particularly skilled on defense and his Cumberland University yearbook noted that Robison was instrumental in helping his team limit a great Tennessee basketball team to 29 points.

His greatest achievements, though, pertain to his coaching career at Grove High School. After two years coaching at Ashland City High School, he was hired to coach the Grove football and baseball teams in 1928. Robison also organized and coached the first boys basketball team ever fielded by the Blue Devils.

His 1931 baseball team went undefeated and, as a result, the Grove annual staff dedicated the school yearbook to him. Robison earlier had guided the 1929 football team to an undefeated season, outscoring the opponents 271-19 for the season. In fact, Grove was unscored on during the final eight games of the season.

Ironically, four of Robison's Grove football players have already been named to the Football Hall of Fame. They were R. L. Dunlap, Jr.,
C. C. Humphreys, Neil Andrews and Gordon Smith.

The brother of Texas Tech Hall of Famer Polk Robison, Dan continued to be a fixture in local sports by refereeing area games in high school and college through 1944. He later was lauded by Paris newspapers when he lobbied for public support to build Grove a much needed new gymnasium.

Robison deserves to be in the hall of fame.