Hopedale assistant coach, a cancer survivor, will 'literally lose sleep' scouting basketball
LOWELL - On the eve of the most important game of the season, he was under strict orders.
No game film. No scouting of the opponent. No. Watching. Basketball.
The man known as “Robo” obliged — mostly — opting for wrestling and a few episodes of Yellowstone. But, he admits, he did cheat, clicking on Friday night’s Celtics-Heat game for 10 minutes.
Hopedale head basketball coach Tony Cordani had told him — again — to tune out the sport for the night.
“That’s literally the fifth time he’s said that,” said Robo on Saturday afternoon after the Blue Raiders lost to Pioneer Valley in their first appearance in a state championship game in 25 years.
Robo, officially Roland Arcand III, is 26. Basketball is his life. He spent much of his childhood around the Boston College men’s team, across the court from legends Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams, and cementing a relationship with former Eagle Danya Abrams. He has befriended NBA players and interned at Dean College.
Keeping him away on a Friday night in March — when the world goes mad — was no easy task.
“I never stop thinking about basketball. I literally will lose sleep,” says Robo, who recently completed his second season as a Hopedale volunteer assistant. “My mind’s constantly spinning.”
He devours game film, scouts opponents, scours Hudl for stats.
“He probably spends three or four hours breaking down our games,” Cordani said. “He just loves basketball. The kids love him. He’s a very sincere guy and he’s a very big part of what we do.”
Robo, a 2017 Hopedale graduate and the team’s manager back then, usually stays off to the side during games, but at practice, he is the first assistant that Cordani turns the floor over to before the team breaks off into stations. Robo is well known outside of town, however, a celebrity since age 7, when ‘BC’ was etched into his short-cropped hair.
A diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2006 led to a two-year battle with the disease. But on Wednesday, Robo will celebrate 17 years of being labeled cancer-free.
Looking back on the many dark days, he says “sports got me through everything.”
But also his family, nurses and doctors.
“I still have all the cards from the kids from Hopedale — and all the people who were there with me: that’s what you think about. You think of the good stuff.
“Just thinking about how I can use it to help out other people.”
Robo is giving back through volunteering at Camp Sunshine in Sebago Lake, Maine, which is for children with life-threatening illnesses and where Robo is an alumnus. He is also an aid in the Hopedale school system.
“I like working with kids and making a connection with them,” he said. “I treat every kid equally and make sure they feel comfortable. I try and help them the best that I can so their life can be better.”
Robo was connected to the BC men’s hoop program in 2011 through Team IMPACT, which matches children facing illness and disability with college sports teams, and the relationship continued.
Abrams, who was an Eagle in 1994 when the team upset defending national champion North Carolina to reach the Sweet 16, helped facilitate the Hopedale team’s visit to BC’s game against Southern Methodist in December.
“The boys got to see that it’s not that much different from what we do,” Robo said. “A lot of the plays, the pressing.”
Robo is naturally a Celtics fan, admiring Jason Tatum, and not only for his scoring ability.
“I like seeing Tatum’s relationship with his son,” he said. “I think that’s a huge thing that goes under the radar, about how good of a father he is.”
When asked how he feels about the Celtics’ chances of repeating, Robo gave a bit of a scouting report. They might shoot too many 3-pointers and let too many fourth-quarter leads dissipate — and that’s frustrating.
“It looks a lot like the Celtics of old, so that kind of makes me nervous,” he quips.
But his ultimate conclusion did not include hours of research or breaking down film.
“They have the dogs to do it.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Instagram at tdumas1.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hopedale's Robo, cancer survivor, 'never stops thinking about basketball'
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