Scotty Robertson

Robert Scott "Scotty" Robertson, III (February 1, 1930 – August 18, 2011), was an American basketball coach. He was the first coach for the New Orleans Jazz (now the Utah Jazz), and he later coached the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons. He also has a stint as assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, and the Miami Heat.

Career

Robertson was born in Fort Smith in western Arkansas. As a sixth grader, he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he played basketball and baseball for C. E. Byrd High School, from which he graduated in 1947. He attended the University of Texas at Austin, Texas, but graduated in 1951 from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He obtained a master's degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. After his graduation from Louisiana Tech, he played baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization before returning to basketball as a coach.

In the 1952–53 academic year, Robertson coached the Vivian Warriors at the former Vivian High School, now North Caddo High School, he had a season record of 9-20. One of his players was Jasper "Jake" Smith, III, son of State Representative Jasper K. Smith of Caddo Parish, who mentions Robertson in Smith's autobiographical Dinner with Mobutu: A Chronicle of My Life and Times.