Time is starting to catch up to Dellie Robinson.

Patches of white show up in his goatee, and he readily admits he’ll wrap up his coaching career at Vicksburg High in a few years.

So what better time is there to become one of his alma mater’s sports immortals?.

Robinson, who enjoyed a stellar basketball career at Alcorn State from 1972-76, will be inducted into that school’s athletic hall of fame in a ceremony at the Vicksburg Auditorium on Oct. 20. Robinson will join a dozen other Alcorn greats in the hall’s Class of 2006.

&#8220No question about it, I’ve received a lot of awards but this is certainly up there with the top of them,” Robinson said.

Each year, the Alcorn State University A Club – the school’s athletic booster club – accepts nominations for potential inductees and a selection committee narrows the list. As many as a dozen former Alcorn greats are picked, a number that A Club president Henry Tucker said will shrink in the future.

&#8220We’re only in our 10th year. We’re trying to go back 50 or so years and catch up,” Tucker said. &#8220After the next couple of years it’s going to drop to about five (per year).”

In addition to Robinson, this year’s inductees include football players Johnny E. Anderson, Barry Brady, Newtie J. Boyd, Lonnie Allen, Leroy Hardy, Marcus Hinton, Tim McNair, Alvin Moore, Donald Ray Ross and James Woodard; track star Willington Cox; and women’s basketball standout Johnette T. Holloway.

A McComb native, Robinson was actually recruited to Alcorn, in part, by Tucker. Robinson was starring for North Pike High School in the early 1970s while Tucker was a coach down the road at South Pike.

&#8220I carried him to Alcorn in a Volkswagen Beetle,” Tucker said with a laugh.

When he arrived on campus in 1972, Robinson embarked on one of the best careers in school history. By the time he finished in 1976, he was fourth on Alcorn’s career points and rebounds lists. He currently ranks sixth and fifth, respectively.

The Braves went 101-25-1 and won two Southwestern Athletic Conference championships during Robinson’s career. Robinson was a three-time All-SWAC selection in that span and also earned NAIA All-America honors.

In his senior season of 1975-76, Robinson averaged 18.1 points per game in helping the Braves to the SWAC title, the fourth of five consecutive NAIA playoff berths, and two wins in the NAIA tournament.

Robinson felt his contributions to one of Alcorn’s best eras would eventually garner some sort of recognition.

&#8220When you talk about Alcorn basketball, my name has to be mentioned down the line sooner or later,” he said.

After leaving Alcorn, Robinson went into coaching and eventually landed a job at Vicksburg in 1991. He has taken the lessons learned on The Reservation and put them to good use in the River City, collecting seven Vicksburg Post Coach of the Year awards – including four straight from 2000-03.

In 2003, Robinson led Vicksburg to the Class 5A state championship, its first state title since 1980. He credited his background at Alcorn and the lessons he learned from his college coach, Dave Whitney, for his own success.

&#8220I’m a firm believer he was one of, if not the best, coach in the nation at that particular time,” Robinson said. &#8220He taught us to keep it simple and play smart, and that’s two things I took away from Dave Whitney. I try to teach that to my kids today.”