Why is Michelle Obama's brother still men's basketball coach at Oregon State?

Earlier this week Minnesota men's head basketball coach Tubby Smith was fired. In each of his six years with the Gophers, his team had a winning record. Smith took the Gophers to the NCAA "Big Dance" three times and to the NIT twice.

At Oregon State, Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, is the men's head basketball coach. In five years with the Beavers, Robinson can boast of just one season with a winning record along with one .500 performance. OSU under Robinson has had three post-season appearances--all in the little-cared for College Basketball Invitational, which accepts teams with sub .500 records. In 2009 Oregon State won the tourney--which the Beavers entered with a 13-17 record.

Still, CBS hired this at-best mediocre coach as a studio analyst for this year's NCAA tournament, where he has never coached even as an assistant. Why was he there? Because of his famous sister of course--and perhaps CBS is trying to curry favor with the White House.

Perhaps?

The Beavers limped to a 14-18 season this year, and with a 4-14 Pac-12 record, they shared last place with Washington State.

Attendance is down at OSU home games.

As for the players, at least they can enjoy annual White House dinners where they can meet the president. A White House visit, sans a meal, is usually an honor usually reserved for teams that have won championships.

Oh, will the 2013 OSU visit be cancelled because of the sequester cuts?

And what if the Beavers stink up the gym again next season? One columnist wrote last month that Robinson is unlikely to be fired because of his powerful brother-in-law.

He's probably right.

Technorati tags: newsDemocrats Obama Barack Obama college education sports

Oregon State Beavers Old School Basketball Tee - Men (Google Affiliate Ad)