The jerseys hang from the ceiling, above mid-court, impossible to miss. They honor six of the great players in men’s basketball history at Virginia Union University. Off in the corner, obscured by a support beam and out of sight of more than half the people in the stands, is a placard commemorating the career of Dave Robbins. The sign is not small, but you have to look for it to see it.

Former Virginia Union coach Dave Robbins is not included among the 16 finalists for election to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The list was released yesterday in conjunction with the NBA all-star weekend festivities. Robbins won three Division II national championships and 713 games in 30 years as VUU’s coach, and also guided Thomas Jefferson High to the 1975 Group AAA title. He has been considered by the Basketball Hall of Fame screening committee each of the past three years. Each year, he failed to receive the necessary seven votes from nine screening-committee members.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Ben Wallace and former NBA standout Charles Oakley are among six former Virginia Union greats who will be honored tonight at halftime of the Virginia UnionLincoln game at Barco-Stevens Hall. In addition, the school’s first NCAA Division II championship team along with former head coach Dave Robbins will be recognized during a reunion ceremony. The 1980 team included current head coach Willard Coker, who replaced Robbins this season.

Former Virginia Union coach Dave Robbins will learn Friday if he is a step closer to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Robbins, whose teams won 713 games and three Division II national titles in his 30 seasons as the Panthers’ coach, retired after the 2007-08 season. VUU nominated Robbins for the Hall of Fame in 2007. “Very few coaches get to go in, and there have been a lot of great coaches, many more deserving than me,“ Robbins, now the senior administrator for athletic development at VUU, said yesterday.

Virginia Union scored a win in its first home game of the season—the same night it named its home floor after retired coach Dave Robbins.

Dave Robbins will not be on the bench for a Virginia Union home opener for the first time in 31 years. Instead, the Panthers’ former coach will be on the floor tonight during a dedication at Barco-Stevens Hall before Virginia Union’s 7:30 game against Fayetteville State. The renovated home court, which was used during three national championship seasons, will be named Robbins Court.