Oregon State U.’s men’s basketball coach, Craig Robinson, the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama, recently added “published author” to his career accomplishments with the April 20 release of his book, “A Game of Character: A Family’s Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond.” To celebrate, he signed hundreds of copies for the Beaver community last night.

“We had a fantastic turnout last night,” said Brent Steele, general manager of the OSU Bookstore. “I found out a year and a half ago that he was writing a book and told the publisher I wanted to have an event with him.”

The OSU Bookstore hosted the signing at the Valley Football Center for hundreds of community members, students and media.

OSU football coach, Mike Riley, introduced Robinson.

“I like having someone in the field introduce the author because it adds to the event,” Steele said.

Riley congratulated Robinson on the release of his book and discussed the OSU men’s basketball team’s recent transformation.

“He has done one of the great coaching jobs in America and it’s been a pleasure to watch the team’s transformation,” Riley said. “One of the most important things they turned around was their attitude after Robinson and his family got here. They went through a total transformation in their demeanors.”

Robinson’s inspiration to write the book arose from his father’s influence.

“My dad was the keeper of the family folklore and he told stories of when he was growing up and life lessons,” Robinson said. “He passed away 19 years ago – way too early – and after the grieving process I started thinking that I had to chronicle these stories and pass them on to my kids.”

Introducing his sister at the Democratic convention made him realize the time had come to write the book.

“When I introduced my sister to the whole world I thought of how proud my dad would be to see that and I realized that I had to write this book before I couldn’t,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s father made him realize that life was not about money or a career.

“My father was never too tired to play or teach my sister and I life lessons,” Robinson said. “For me, everything boils down to character.”

From start to finish, the writing process took a little under a year for the full-time coach, husband and father of three.

“I compare writing this book to running a marathon, but it was a pleasure to write it,” Robinson said. “It was a lot of work on the nights and weekends. The easy part was figuring what to write about and the hardest part was to organize my thoughts.”

The book is a collection of Robinson’s life and the family stories that helped shape him.

“It’s about my life and a tribute to my parents, my sister, my teachers, coaches and mentors,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want it to be preachy. I wanted to use it to inspire others.”

One of Robinson’s greatest life successes is following in his parents’ footsteps.

“The most successful thing I’ve ever done is raising my kids, although I’m not done yet,” Robinson said.

An audience of hundreds asked Robinson questions about the writing process, stories of his personal recruitment and even about his ties to the White House.

“It feels cool to be related to the President of the United States,” Robinson said. “One of the stories in the book is one that everyone knows, about me playing Barack in basketball.”

Other stories address some curiosities the country has about Michelle, like her toned arms.

“A clue to Michelle’s arms is in the book and it’s about when she and I learned how to box,” Robinson said. “But if you’re looking for gossip about her, you’re not going to find it. The stories are uplifting.”

In fact, Robinson put a stipulation on whether or not the book would be published. He gave the final say to three women in his life.

“Three people read it before it was published: my wife, sister and mom,” Robinson said. “If they had not signed off on it, the book would not have been published.”

No attendees left without their book being signed and some got more copies signed with personal messages as gifts for loved ones.

“I’m getting a book signed for my dad,” said Olivia Hier, a freshman in merchandising management. “He collects autographs and he found out about this book signing and wanted me to get a book signed for him.”

According to his tweets, Robinson’s media tour to promote the book started on April 19. He’s made appearances on NBC’s “The Today Show,” “The Jim Rome Show,” “Larry King Live,” “The Colbert Report,” “The View” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”