Background and career
Glenn Alan Robinson Jr. (born January 10, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dog" and "the Chosen One", he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1994 to 2005 for the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, and San Antonio Spurs. Robinson attended Purdue University and was the first overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. He is the father of Glenn Robinson III, who played college basketball at the University of Michigan and has also played in the NBA. His daughter is Jaimie Robinson.
Robinson was born to Christine Bridgeman in Gary, Indiana. With his mother being an unmarried teenager, Robinson rarely saw his father. Not receiving the best grades at school, his mother once pulled him off the basketball team, and he took a job at an air-conditioning and refrigeration shop.
Robinson attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, where he started playing organized basketball during the 9th grade. He was a member of three IHSAA Sectional title teams, two Regional title teams and a State Championship team. During his senior season (1990–91), he led the Panthers to an Indiana state basketball championship, winning the final game against Brebeuf Jesuit and their star Alan Henderson; this highly anticipated showdown was captured in The Road to Indianapolis. and Indiana High School Basketball 20 Most Dominant Players. Robinson won the 1991 Indiana Mr. Basketball award, the oldest such award in the nation (inaugurated in 1939). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American and along with Chris Webber was one of the MVPs of the Dapper Dan Roundball classic.
After high school, Robinson attended Purdue University to play under head coach Gene Keady and his recruiter/assistant coach Frank Kendrick. A school custodian gave him the nickname of "Big Dog" before he played a game for Purdue. Robinson subsequently got a tattoo of a "snarling bulldog wearing a spiked collar" on his chest. Due to struggles with NCAA eligibility, resulting from Proposition 48 which requires minimum academic standards, he had to redshirt for his freshman season. He worked as a welder during the summers while at Purdue. Eligible for his sophomore season, Robinson led the Boilermakers with 24.1 points and 9.4 rebounds a game in his first season as a Boilermaker. He led them to an 18–10 record in the regular season and an NCAA tournament appearance. He received First Team All-Big Ten and Second Team All-American honors.
In his junior season, Robinson built upon his previous season's averages with 30.3 points and 11.2 rebounds a game, while becoming the first player since 1978 to lead the Big Ten Conference in both categories. Along with teammates Cuonzo Martin and Matt Waddell, he led the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Conference Title and an Elite Eight appearance, finishing the season with a 29–5 record and a 3rd overall ranking. In his last college game against a Grant Hill-led Duke team in the NCAA Tournament, Robinson was held to only 13 points, his season low, while suffering from a back strain he sustained against Kansas in the prior game. Leading the nation in scoring and becoming the conference's all-time single season points leader with 1,030 points, Robinson was unanimously selected as the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. He also unanimously received the John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Award, the first national player of the year-honored Boilermaker since John Wooden himself did it in 1932 (who also wore the jersey #13). Robinson also was the recipient for the USBWA College Player of the Year.
Robinson left Purdue after becoming the only Boilermaker to have more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 steals, 100 assists and 50 blocked shots in a career during his two seasons at Purdue, along with a school weightlifting record with a 309-pound clean-and-jerk. His 1,030 points during his junior year made him only the 15th player in college history to score 1,000 points in a season. In September 2010, the Big Ten Network named Robinson Icon No. 35 on its list of the biggest icons in Big Ten Conference history. Purdue's campus bookstores sold T-shirts featuring Robinson's image and his nickname "Big Dog" before Robinson complained and they discontinued the practice.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
