Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series counting down the top five sports stories in Warren County in 2017.

For more than 20 years Dellie C. Robinson was a constant presence in Vicksburg High’s gym. Even when the Gators’ boys’ basketball teams were below average in talent, Robinson’s coaching skills raised them up to a competitive level. When they were good, he pushed them to become championship caliber.

The coach who had led the Gators to the 2003 Class 5A state title, and appearances in the championship game in 2011 and 2014, had been pushing for one more for almost a decade. He’d often spoke of retirement, yet always came back for another season, another chance.

Finally, the decision was no longer his to make.

Robinson fell ill with an undisclosed, but major, health issue during Vicksburg’s game at Madison Central on Jan. 10. He went into the locker room at halftime and never returned to the bench.

Robinson has since recovered, but did at last announce his retirement in the spring. He was replaced by longtime assistant Kelvin Carter to send the Vicksburg program into a brand new era.

Vicksburg’s girls’ team also got new leadership, as Barbara Hartzog quietly slipped into retirement to end a 10-year tenure as coach. Former VHS assistant coach Troy Stewart took her place.
The massive shift in leadership for both programs is the No. 2 sports story of the year in Warren County for 2017.

“Those are some big shoes to follow. Come on, now. The Coliseum appearances, the 2003 championship, it’s big shoes to fill,” Carter said in January, shortly after taking over on an interim basis. He was permanently promoted in April. “But I think I’m prepared because I’ve been alongside him. In practice we haven’t missed a beat. He trusted me several times if he was sick or had to go to a funeral or whatever, and I stepped right in and most of the time we kept on going.”

Robinson won nearly 800 games in almost 30 years as a coach at Canton High School and Vicksburg. He had been at VHS since 1992 and won more than 400 games there.

His legacy with Vicksburg included the 2003 state title, runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2014, and several other appearances in the state tournament. He started hinting at retirement around 2010, saying he would leave once the current group of seniors was finished their careers.

He wound up sticking around for several more classes to come through.

“When he would tell me, ‘I’m going to do it one more year,’ it was like, ‘OK, coach,’” Carter said in March. “It almost feels like he’s going to come in the gym and say we’re going to start practice. He won’t ever be gone. I definitely didn’t want it to happen that way. I wanted him to go out on his own terms. That was out of our control.”