First Brother-In-Law Craig Robinson

Perhaps the most interesting part of your biography is your decision to leave investment banking to take a relatively low-paying assistant coaching job at Northwestern University. So many people want to chase their dream but don't do it. How did you manage that?

It was a tough decision but it wasn't a difficult decision. I had always thought, at some point in my life, I would work at a Wall Street firm, save enough money to send my kids to college, and go teach seventh grade and coach high school basketball. When I was thinking about leaving investment banking, I had this inflated sense of what my kids thought that was. They had no idea what investment banking was. All they knew is that I would get up and go to work in a suit.

So when I was making the change to coaching, I discussed it with them. And if they had any kind of reservations, if they started to cry, I might not have done it. I said to my son, 'Listen, I might be changing jobs.' He thought for a minute, and said, 'Huh. What are you doing?' I said I was going to be a basketball coach. He paused, and he said, "Does that mean your office is a gym?" And I said, 'No, not exactly. My office is going to be next to the gym.' And my daughter, who was 3 at the time, says 'Do they have a pool?' I said, 'Yes, they do.'" And that was when I knew I could make the change.

You grew up playing basketball in the parks, and people often lament that today, kids don't just go out and play. Is that good for basketball?

I don't think so. You learn stuff playing outside, where there's some ramifications to losing. When you come into the gym, you've got 12 guys, you just play. If you lose, who cares? If you went to the park, and it was the only court and you lost, you were off for an hour-and-a-half. Then you played harder. You got better.

How has your connection to the First Family helped your basketball team?

People like to talk about it, therefore they like to hear from the coach at Oregon State. So we get a little publicity from that. But elite high-major basketball players never pick their school based on who the coach is related to. They pick it on 'How is this guy going to get me to the next level?'" So it helps us from a brand management and marketing standpoint. But to get kids to come, we have to prove to them we are going to be a winning program, that they're going to get playing time.

You were out on the road campaigning quite a bit during the '08 election. What did you take away from that experience?

What I learned from that is you can't assume people have a specific political vision based on who they are, where they live, what they drive, where they work. I was surprised to see how many people were willing to listen to new ideas. I never would have thought that if I didn't get the opportunity to get out there and meet those folks.

Do you speak to the president often?

Not as often as I would like. He does call me after big wins, so I know he is paying attention. That's all I can ask for. I talk to my sister more often.

Have those conversations changed since she's become First Lady?

Not really. The conversations are what you think they would be among close members of a family. We talk about the kids, we talk about the schooling, we talk about how each other is doing and that's pretty much it. We try to keep it as regular as it can be.

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