- Dec 10, 2001
- 2,239
- 28
[h1]U-M hoops hero Rumeal Robinson accused of swindling mom, others[/h1][h4]Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News[/h4]
Rumeal Robinson got famous for his performance under pressure -- two free throws with three seconds left in overtime to clinch Michigan's 1989 NCAAbasketball championship.
But the Cambridge, Mass., public school security officer who raised Robinson after finding him abandoned at age 10 says he has fallen far from the image ofsomeone you can count on.
Helen Ford, 65, took Robinson into her home, and accuses him of cheating her out of her house.
"It is one of the greatest forms of betrayal I can imagine," said Dennis Benzan, an attorney representing Ford.
Now 42 and long retired from a seven-year professional basketball career that netted him millions, Robinson no longer enjoys his once lavish lifestyle, withexpensive cars, motorcycles, a posh condominium and an active nightlife in Miami's clubs.
He was indicted by federal authorities in Iowa for his part in an alleged swindle of more than $2 million involving a proposed resort development calledHarmony Cove in his native Jamaica. He was released last month on $50,000 bond.
Ford cried while describing to a Detroit News reporter how she was evicted in April from the home on Rumeal Robinson Way in Cambridge where she and herdeceased husband Louis raised nine children and provided temporary care to many more.
"I didn't know I was signing my house over. I thought I was taking out a mortgage because my son asked me for help," Ford said.
"He said he would make the payments and I thought all these years he was making the payments until the constable came and told me I was beingevicted."
She unwittingly signed papers in 2003 that sold the home for $600,000. The property has since changed three times and finally went into foreclosure. Herattorney bought time for her to remain in the home, but he now is uncertain if there is any way to get the place back.
Ford lives in a two-bedroom apartment. She said she doesn't sleep well because, for the first time in her life, she is alone. She had raised five of herown, four adopted children and provided temporary care for many more foster children in the five-bedroom house. She was honored for her dedication during thehalftime of a Boston Celtics game in 2006.
[h5]Raised as her own[/h5]
Robinson was honored in January at U-M's Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, along with other members of the championship team. Robinson recalled then, "Ido get recognized for those free throws. I appreciate it," but he added it was a great team with nine players who went on to have NBA careers. "Weworked hard for that moment."
His famous free throws downed Seton Hall, 80-79, and landed Robinson on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His adoptive parents accompanied him to the 1990NBA draft in New York, where he was selected 10th overall in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks. He never lived up to expectations, eventually playing forthe New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.
Ford said Robinson offered after signing his first professional contract to fix up her old house, but she insisted he should make himself financially securefirst. She said she didn't hear much from Robinson after that. It was after he returned for the funeral of Louis Ford in 2001, that he asked if he couldtake out a mortgage on her house to start a real estate venture.
"She adopted Rumeal because his biological mother didn't want him," Benzan said. "He became what he was in no small part though herefforts."
Ford met Robinson at a local recreation center when he was 10. She had been told he showed up daily at snack time and played basketball.
"He was in a situation where he was sleeping the hallways," Ford said. "His mother had put him out. She didn't want him. He kept saying,'My mother don't want me.' He hadn't had a regular meal in three weeks. 'That's it,' I told him, 'You are coming withme.'"
After a stellar career at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High, he won a scholarship to play at Michigan.
[h5]The downfall[/h5]
Another of Ford's children, Donald Barrows, 44, said his brother's lavish lifestyle is over.
"He was a nice kid. I looked at him as my brother," Barrows said. "We all were very, very proud of him, but not now. He was Cambridge'sgolden boy, him and Partick Ewing (another Jamaican-born professional basketball star who attended the same high school as Robinson). He went from gold to leadin our eyes."
Robinson's attorney, Hugo Rodriguez of Miami, said reports in a Miami newspaper are inaccurately saying Robinson is indigent and living in budgetmotels.
"He rents an apartment. He's getting by," Rodriguez said. "I'm sure he's not living the lifestyle to which he was accustomed, buthe's certainly not indigent. That has been sensationalized."
The federal charges allege Robinson paid kickbacks to a banker in Iowa for loans to a company he called Megaladon. The charges imply he spent the money onother things and never intended to pay it back. The charges carry a 10-year maximum punishment.
Rodriguez said Robinson had no criminal intentions, but is a victim of the collapse of the real estate market.
"It was a tremendous project if it would have gone at that time, but things changed," Rodriguez said. "I've been told that one of theloans involved this residence."
Rodriguez said he has advised Robinson to make no public comments about his problems.
"That house was used as collateral on a loan and like everything else in the real estate world, the loan went upside down and the bankforeclosed," Rodriguez said.
"It's unfortunate and I don't want to be difficult or calloused, but there was a time and place to raise these issues and apparently thatwasn't done."
Rumeal Robinson got famous for his performance under pressure -- two free throws with three seconds left in overtime to clinch Michigan's 1989 NCAAbasketball championship.
But the Cambridge, Mass., public school security officer who raised Robinson after finding him abandoned at age 10 says he has fallen far from the image ofsomeone you can count on.
Helen Ford, 65, took Robinson into her home, and accuses him of cheating her out of her house.
"It is one of the greatest forms of betrayal I can imagine," said Dennis Benzan, an attorney representing Ford.
Now 42 and long retired from a seven-year professional basketball career that netted him millions, Robinson no longer enjoys his once lavish lifestyle, withexpensive cars, motorcycles, a posh condominium and an active nightlife in Miami's clubs.
He was indicted by federal authorities in Iowa for his part in an alleged swindle of more than $2 million involving a proposed resort development calledHarmony Cove in his native Jamaica. He was released last month on $50,000 bond.
Ford cried while describing to a Detroit News reporter how she was evicted in April from the home on Rumeal Robinson Way in Cambridge where she and herdeceased husband Louis raised nine children and provided temporary care to many more.
"I didn't know I was signing my house over. I thought I was taking out a mortgage because my son asked me for help," Ford said.
"He said he would make the payments and I thought all these years he was making the payments until the constable came and told me I was beingevicted."
She unwittingly signed papers in 2003 that sold the home for $600,000. The property has since changed three times and finally went into foreclosure. Herattorney bought time for her to remain in the home, but he now is uncertain if there is any way to get the place back.
Ford lives in a two-bedroom apartment. She said she doesn't sleep well because, for the first time in her life, she is alone. She had raised five of herown, four adopted children and provided temporary care for many more foster children in the five-bedroom house. She was honored for her dedication during thehalftime of a Boston Celtics game in 2006.
[h5]Raised as her own[/h5]
Robinson was honored in January at U-M's Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, along with other members of the championship team. Robinson recalled then, "Ido get recognized for those free throws. I appreciate it," but he added it was a great team with nine players who went on to have NBA careers. "Weworked hard for that moment."
His famous free throws downed Seton Hall, 80-79, and landed Robinson on the cover of Sports Illustrated. His adoptive parents accompanied him to the 1990NBA draft in New York, where he was selected 10th overall in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks. He never lived up to expectations, eventually playing forthe New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns.
Ford said Robinson offered after signing his first professional contract to fix up her old house, but she insisted he should make himself financially securefirst. She said she didn't hear much from Robinson after that. It was after he returned for the funeral of Louis Ford in 2001, that he asked if he couldtake out a mortgage on her house to start a real estate venture.
"She adopted Rumeal because his biological mother didn't want him," Benzan said. "He became what he was in no small part though herefforts."
Ford met Robinson at a local recreation center when he was 10. She had been told he showed up daily at snack time and played basketball.
"He was in a situation where he was sleeping the hallways," Ford said. "His mother had put him out. She didn't want him. He kept saying,'My mother don't want me.' He hadn't had a regular meal in three weeks. 'That's it,' I told him, 'You are coming withme.'"
After a stellar career at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High, he won a scholarship to play at Michigan.
[h5]The downfall[/h5]
Another of Ford's children, Donald Barrows, 44, said his brother's lavish lifestyle is over.
"He was a nice kid. I looked at him as my brother," Barrows said. "We all were very, very proud of him, but not now. He was Cambridge'sgolden boy, him and Partick Ewing (another Jamaican-born professional basketball star who attended the same high school as Robinson). He went from gold to leadin our eyes."
Robinson's attorney, Hugo Rodriguez of Miami, said reports in a Miami newspaper are inaccurately saying Robinson is indigent and living in budgetmotels.
"He rents an apartment. He's getting by," Rodriguez said. "I'm sure he's not living the lifestyle to which he was accustomed, buthe's certainly not indigent. That has been sensationalized."
The federal charges allege Robinson paid kickbacks to a banker in Iowa for loans to a company he called Megaladon. The charges imply he spent the money onother things and never intended to pay it back. The charges carry a 10-year maximum punishment.
Rodriguez said Robinson had no criminal intentions, but is a victim of the collapse of the real estate market.
"It was a tremendous project if it would have gone at that time, but things changed," Rodriguez said. "I've been told that one of theloans involved this residence."
Rodriguez said he has advised Robinson to make no public comments about his problems.
"That house was used as collateral on a loan and like everything else in the real estate world, the loan went upside down and the bankforeclosed," Rodriguez said.
"It's unfortunate and I don't want to be difficult or calloused, but there was a time and place to raise these issues and apparently thatwasn't done."
