Nick Robertson (born December 25, 1940) coached boys basketball for 41 years at three Oregon high schools, finishing with 699 victories and two state titles. He was also the co-founder of the state’s most prestigious winter tournament – the Les Schwab Invitational.
He was an outstanding player himself in the early Sixties, starring for Steve Belko’s teams at the University of Oregon.
Robertson’s coaching career began at Sandy in 1964, where he turned the Pioneers into a winning program over five seasons, then continued with two years at Franklin.
In 1972, Nick’s coaching success took off after his move to McMinnville, where he coached the Grizzlies – led by center Charlie Sitton – to the 1979 state title with a double-overtime win over Churchill. McMinnville went 27-0 and extended the win streak to 39 straight games into the next season. The notoriety of those Mac-Hi teams brought Nick into the spotlight when he was selected to coach three major national events including the McDonalds All-America game. His record at McMinnville was 196-91 over twelve seasons.
Then, it was on to Beaverton, where he also took on duties of athletic director, Robertson coached the Beavers to the 1989 state final and the 1998 state championship. He guided BHS to the Metro League title 10 times in 22 seasons, and his teams to the large-school state tournament 25 times. The coach’s final record at Beaverton: 430-137.
His penchant for hard practices and attention to detail yielded 18 Division I athletes. Many of his former players have gone on to successful careers in teaching and coaching.
Along with fellow Hall of Fame coach Barry Adams, Nick helped found the Les Schwab Invitational tournament and the Northwest Shootout All-Star games. His overall coaching record 699-310, a 69% winning percentage.
A great historian of sports himself, Nick loved sharing his memories of athletes and games from his own long history. He is also a member of the McMinnville High School and University of Oregon halls of fame.