Marv Roberts

Marvin Roberts (born January 29, 1950) is an American former basketball player.

College basketball career

Roberts, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was given a scholarship to play at Utah State University after being named to the 1967 All-Brooklyn First Team by the New York Daily News, alongside being named as an All-New York City honorable mention by the New York Post and a "Sleeper of the Year" of New York City from High School Basketball Illustrated (HSBI). He played with the Aggies from 1969 to 1971. He was selected to the All-America team by the Helm's Foundation three times along with being named as an All-American honorable mention by the AP and UPI during those seasons. During his time with the Aggies, he scored 1,844 points, had 997 rebounds (with a 12.8 average per game), and 228 assists. He holds the school record in double-double games with 54, games with double-figure rebounds at 55, with two instances of double-double streaks that rank one and two in school history at 17, and 13, respectively. His highest scoring game was 43, which he did twice. At the time of his induction into the Aggie All Century Basketball Team in 2005, he ranked 3rd in school history in rebounds. He was inducted into the USU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.^[1][2]

Pro basketball career

Roberts was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the third round of the 1971 NBA draft. He signed with the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association. Roberts played for the Rockets beginning in 1971 and was traded to the Carolina Cougars during the 1973–74 season. Roberts joined the Kentucky Colonels for the 1974–75 season and was part of the Colonels team that won the 1975 ABA Championship. Following Kentucky's championship season Roberts was traded to the Virginia Squires. The Squires folded at the conclusion of the 1975–76 ABA season, just before the ABA–NBA merger. As a result, Roberts ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers for the 1976–77 season.

Roberts scored 3,345 points in his six NBA/ABA seasons.^[3]

Life after basketball

After his retirement, he joined the McDonald's Corporation in 1985, rising to regional human resources manager in the New York region. He also worked with Watkins Motor Lines and FedEx in human resources.^[4]

In May 2013, Roberts was hired by Utah State University as assistant vice president of student engagement and diversity, which made him an advocate for minority students, with a focus on student retention and success in the field.

On September 18, 2014, he was fired after allegations of sexual assault involving a USU Division of Student Services employee (which he supervised). According to the complaint, it had occurred at his house in August. Reportedly, he showed her memorabilia from his career to her and later expressed desire to have sex with er. She attempted to rebuff him by stating she was a lesbian, but the two later engaged in sex acts. In a police interview, Roberts admitted to sexual contact with the student employee, but he maintained consensual and that they halted due as respect for her preference. The incident was not reported until September to Logan police, with Roberts cooperating with them by providing copies of text / e-mail messages with the victim. Charges were not filed by the Cache County Attorney's Office due to insufficient evidence. He had been placed on administrative leave after the investigations.^[5][6][7]

Roberts formerly served as Tresuarer of the National Basketball Retired Players Association.^[8][9]

References