During the 19th Annual Blue Marlin Team Camp held at Virginia Wesleyan University, The 757 at 6 on ESPN Radio 94.1 did its live broadcast with host Matthew Hatfield of VirginiaPreps.com.
Among the guests were two coaches with State Championships in their background: Landstown's Dwight Robinson and Potomac's Keith Honore.
Landstown's Dwight Robinson:
When Landstown High School in Virginia Beach opened in 2001, they named Dwight Robinson as their Head Basketball Coach. Few programs in Tidewater or the entire state have compared to the Eagles, who have gone 328-134 (.710) in 18 seasons under his direction. That includes five State Tournament trips, four in the past six years.
Landstown finished 25-3 overall, defeating Lake Braddock 79-60 last March at VCU to capture the VHSL Class 6 State Championship. It was the first state title in program history for the Eagles, a playoff fixture under Robinson. Before winning that game, Landstown had to outlast Oscar Smith 64-60 in double-overtime, forcing the extra session on a game-tying basket at the buzzer by Michael Christmas, who's now at James Madison University.
Before coaching basketball, Robinson was a standout athlete at Fauquier High School and went on to become an All-American football player at James Madison University. After that, he went on to play in the Canadian Football League and took up coaching football once his career ended. He was an assistant on State Championship winning staffs at Heritage High in Newport News in 2000 and at Landstown during 2004.
Robinson chats about the recent Championship journey, coaching his step-son Donald Hand Jr. and how next season's squad will look.
Potomac's Keith Honore:
A 1992 graduate of Potomac, Keith Honore has posted a record of 255-69 in 13 years at the helm of a storied Panthers program. In fact, over the last nine seasons, he has gone 194-43 overall with six State Tournament trips and a pair of state titles that were won in 2014 over Henrico and 2016 over L.C. Bird.
When Honore took over the lead chair from Kendall Hayes, a man that won 423 games and the school's first state title in basketball, expectations were high. After all, Hayes led Potomac to six Northwest Region crowns in 21 years before retiring in March of 2006. Honore, who became an assistant at Potomac in 1993, watched the Panthers reach the State Playoffs on eight occasions from '95-2005.
Under Honore, the winning has continued and the school from Dumfries remains one of Virginia's finest. Potomac finished 18-8 overall last season, falling to Potomac Falls 52-45 in the Class 5 State Tournament quarterfinals. His Panthers saw their 58-game home winning streak get snapped by Osbourn in 2017. They also had a string of 36 consecutive victories in the regular season over district/conference foes, which was snapped in January of 2018 by Gar-Field.
Honore chats about the current challenges of coaching in today's culture, watching his two sons - recent Virginia Wesleyan grad Keijon Honore and rising Panthers sophomore Kyle Honore - and more as they get ready to move up to the Class 6 ranks.
Hear More Interviews from Va. Wesleyan Team Camp:
You can also hear more interviews from the 19th Annual Blue Marlin Team Camp by clicking the link below from our High School Sports Talk Saturday morning program...
Hear More Interviews from HS Sports Talk at Virginia Wesleyan Here
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him weeknights from 6-7 PM on The 757 at 6 as well as every Saturday at 10 AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.
