Lake Central's Robinson signs on at Michigan

ST. JOHN | Shantelle Clay-Irving has a smile on her face Wednesday night. It was a look of joy that had been stirring for many years.

The mother of Lake Central basketball standout Glenn Robinson III looked on as "Tre" signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Michigan next year.

"I kept saying for the last 10 years for him to find someone else to pay for his college," Clay-Irving said. "I told him even if you do ballet do it well enough that you can go to college. Be the best at whatever you do.

"This is a happy, happy day."

There was a lot of happiness at Lake Central as five Indians signed their letters of intent. Taylor Lehnert (Central Michigan) signed for baseball. Kaitlyn Ranieri (Valparaiso) signed for softball. Jimmy McNamara (Central Michigan) signed for baseball. And Kyle Ayersman (Purdue) signed for wrestling.

Lake Central athletic director Robin Tobias opened the ceremony with strong and heart-felt words.

"I can't tell you all how proud we are here at Lake Central," Tobias said. "We wish you all the best of luck in your future careers in college and the rest of this school year.

"You will always be Lake Central Indians."

Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson flew in from Atlanta to watch his son sign on with the Wolverines. Even though he was a star at Purdue, he didn't want to miss this special moment.

"I'm very proud," the former NBA All-Star said. "He went out there and did his own thing. He didn't try to live in his dad's shadow. It wasn't handed to him. He went out and earned it.

"Now, he can focus on winning a state championship here."

Robinson is rated No. 34 by Rivals.com for the Class of 2012. He averaged 22.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals last year for L.C.

Michigan coach John Beilein released a statement about his happiness with Robinson's official signing.

"Glenn has a passion and devotion to the game of basketball that has driven his development significantly over this past year," Beilein said. "He is first and foremost a great teammate and is very coachable. The combination of his explosiveness and unselfishness, along with his expanding skill set, makes him a perfect fit for Michigan basketball."

The younger Robinson joked with Lehnert at basketball practice about making sure they both spelled their name right on their letters.

"It's guaranteed now, my mom won't have to pay any money for my school," Robinson said with a smile. "This relieves a lot of stress having my name on that paper. This is awesome that I can do this with five of my classmates.

"It's a blessing that we all here together. It's a great honor."