March 13, 2009

By Samantha Franz
Oakland University Athletics Media Relations

For Gary Cobb, it all started with a passion for the hardwood.

He had grown up loving basketball, playing and watching it whenever he could. But when he was cut from making the team at Pontiac Northern High School his sophomore year, Cobb pursued athletic careers in cross country, track and field and wrestling. While he excelled at all three sports, he never forgot his love for basketball and he hoped that one day, he would have the opportunity to play for an organized team.

Who would have thought that his foray into cross country would reunite him with basketball three years later? It certainly wasn't on Cobb's mind when choosing Oakland University for a college as a high school senior.

"There was very little scholarship money to go around for runners and wrestlers at the time," said Cobb. That's when the option of attending Oakland appealed to him. "It was well-recommended to me by my high school friends and family members and it was important for me to go to a school with strong academics."

So Cobb, who began as a mathematics major, started at Oakland in the fall of 1964 and quickly found his comfort zone on campus.

"For me, my dorm room was Lepley Sports Arena," he said with a laugh. "I always loved basketball so after classes were out and most of my friends went home, I went to play basketball at Lepley."

It was during one of those after school games where Dick Robinson, who coached cross country and, a few years later, would coach the inaugural Oakland basketball varsity team, took notice of Cobb and offered him a chance to run cross country for the Pioneers, having caught wind of his success in the sport at Pontiac Northern.

"I had never intended to run at Oakland, but it was an opportunity and I took advantage of it," said Cobb. "It proved to be an avenue into my first love, which was basketball, since Dick was also the coach of the intramural team and he once saw me score 40 points in one game."

Soon afterward, Cobb had finally achieved his dream of playing organized basketball and was living some of the best times of his life.

"School was academically challenging, but in terms of athletics, it was a tremendous opportunity," said Cobb. "There was access to the gym and you could get in and play competitive games as much as you liked and also, they were some of the best personal times of my life, because my high school sweetheart, Kathy, became my wife in those first two years."

However, in 1966, two years after he started at OU, Cobb's collegiate athletic career came to an end when Kathy became pregnant with their first son.

"It was a disappointment in some sense, because I had to go to work full-time and leave athletics, but on the other hand, when you have a responsibility, you take on different priorities. Going to work full-time turned out to be a blessing, because I was given an opportunity to work for General Motors during college and was able to learn how to use computers, which helped me prepare for my career after OU."

Switching to a business degree, Cobb graduated from Oakland in 1969 with a one-and-a-half year old son and a newborn baby. From there, he worked for IBM, had two more children and authored a Christian Book Award-winning text. Following a successful career at IBM, where he became a marketing manager, he moved back to Michigan and recently set up shop as a business consultant and real estate broker in Rochester.

Cobb's love for basketball has never diminished over the years and up until his mid-50s, he played in leagues until injuries slowed him down. Today, he still plays with his sons and grandchildren and still has that fiery spirit, claiming to be as competitive in Scrabble and Monopoly as he is on the basketball court.

Back in February, Cobb was given the opportunity to come back to his alma mater for Oakland's first-ever homecoming and when the '69 graduate was singled out at halftime of the men's basketball game against Centenary College, he was applauded by over 3,000 cheering fans, including his wife, children and most of his 12 grandchildren.

"It made me reflect on my basketball-playing days at Oakland, when my wife would watch me from the stands," said Cobb. "At that time, both she and my first son in the womb were there. Now, at Oakland's homecoming, she was in the stands again, this time with my children and grandchildren, so it was very special to have them there. My son, who had been there my wife's womb when I played for Oakland, was there with his five sons: his very own basketball team."

When asked what advice he would give Oakland's current and future student-athletes, Cobb reflects on the same advice he gave his children when they pursued athletics.

"I would say to be all that you can be," said Cobb. "If you're the third runner on cross country, be the best third runner you can be. If you don't make the starting lineup, be the best bench player you can be. If you don't have the best offensive game, be the best defensive player on the floor.

"Today's athletes are privileged to be a part of a program that is committed to academics and character. I was only here for a brief time for homecoming, but the professionalism, respect and dignity they showed to their alumni athletes is something today's athletes have to look forward to. Their school's not going to forget them."