Next in our series of stories on what inductees to the 2024 Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame have been doing since leaving school we catch up with Robbie Waldrop, a key member of Winthrop's 1998-98 men's basketball team that became the first team in school history to play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The ceremony will be held Jan, 12, 2024 in the Richardson Ballroom, DiGiorgio Campus Center.

When Robbie Waldrop left college and entered the work force, he was looking for something to replace the adrenaline rush he got night after night on the basketball court.   

He tried coaching for a while but that didn't cut it. Next came teaching. Didn't do a thing for him.  

"Then I thought about law enforcement," Robbie said. "After my first ride-along I was hooked."  

Robbie has been a member of the Gaston County Police Department for the last 20 years and has risen through the ranks to become a captain. He lives in Gastonia, NC with his wife, Jessica.  

Like the rest of the roster, Robbie didn't know what to expect when Gregg Marshall took over. His Eagles had gone 7-20 the year before and were picked to finish last in preseason Big South voting.  

"Things were different from the very beginning," he said.  "I knew we were going to be better, but when we started playing you could see we had something special."  

Robbie, a 6-4 sophomore guard, provided instant offense for the Eagles back in the 1998-99 season. And he did it from long range. He was a prolific shooter from behind the 3-point arc, and his range was from anywhere on the floor. An article in the Rock Hill Herald describing his range said,  "There's the college line, the NBA line and then there's  "Robbie's World."  

For his career, Robbie connected on 123 shots from behind the arc.      

Robbie was a key reserve for Marshall's Eagles, averaging 11.7 points a game. He scored 28 points against Elon, hitting 7 three pointers. He scored in double figures 12 times, including a stretch of six straight.       

But there was a time that season when it appeared Robbie wouldn't be on the floor come tournament time because of what was diagnosed as a bruised spleen. The first doctor told him that playing could lead to further complications, and he missed the final two regular-season games against Radford and UNC Asheville.     

He sought out and got a second opinion.   

"Oh, you know there was going to be a second opinion," he said. "He (the doctor) assured all of us, that I couldn't do anymore harm."    

 Robbie scored 11 points against Charleston Southern and followed with 9 against Radford in the Big South Conference championship game against Radford, a win that earned the Eagles their first ticket to the Big Dance.  

Winthrop lost to the top-seeded Auburn Tigers 80-41, but Robbie, who scored 6 points, has fond memories for his time in Indianapolis.  

 "The overall atmosphere was fabulous," he recalled. "Just the size of the crowd that came out to watch practice. And, to see how the top teams handled themselves was something."