Miami’s Waike Roblyer
By Bryce McKinnis
Last year, Miami High School junior Waike Roblyer averaged 14 points, eight rebounds and 1.3 blocks a night enroute to a district championship and his senior All-Conference nod. Two years ago, Miami High School freshman Waike Roblyer didn’t touch the floor.
“I decided I was going to get playing time the next year, even if I came off the bench,” said Roblyer, a center-forward. “I joined the Tulsa Hawks that summer and worked all summer to get that spot. Then, my coaches that year left, and I had a coaching staff who came into the program wanting to change the culture of Miami basketball. They saw potential in me and believed I could be a really good player, and they poured into me. I ended up having a really successful year as a sophomore and an even better one my junior year.”
Only a few years before, Roblyer hit a substantial growth spurt. His father, Chris, had himself been a talented football player and guided Waike into a successful youth football career.
“I would travel all over the place and would be one of the best ones on the field,” Roblyer said. “Then, once I got to middle school, I started to lose love for the game and really shot up in height. I started to love the game of basketball, and my dad was all-in on basketball.”
He invested gallons of sweat to the game of basketball over the years that followed, but it was another, third, sport in which Roblyer suffered his greatest backslide.
“My seventh-grade year, I snapped my tibia playing baseball,” Roblyer said. “It was the worst thing I have ever gone through. There were so many weeks just laying in a bed or a chair and not being able to move.”
Roblyer missed two months of classes. He worried he wouldn’t bounce back. His mother, Kiah, helped him refocus.
“My mom kept pushing me and helping me get back on my feet,” Roblyer said. “I did make a comeback and a full recovery after nine months.”
Roblyer’s work speaks for itself. He’s scheduled to pass 1,000 points this season and a serious contender for conference MVP. His family has built a supportive structure around him.
“I have my own little section with how many of my family members come to watch me play, but behind the scenes, there’s a lot more,” Roblyer said. “My dad pushing me to show and coming to rebound for me; my mom having me go run the block multiple times to get in shape; and having a really good supporting cast behind my back to keep me going every day no matter how much I want to stop.”
Roblyer’s basketball story has been one of heartbreak, persistence and triumph. This year, he’s fully immersed in a team role he’s earned over the last two years.
“I’m our leader and need to be in the gym more than anyone else for others to realize they need to be in there too,” Roblyer said. “My goals for this year are to reach 1,000 points, All-Conference and conference MVP. For the team, I hope we can win at least 17 games and make a deep playoff run, because we have a lot of potential to do it this year.”
After high school, Roblyer intends to continue playing basketball. It’s the most difficult sport to play at the collegiate level. Once again, Roblyer’s up for the challenge.
“Next year, I hope to see myself playing college basketball somewhere. It is my dream to make it to the collegiate level, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to play at that level,” Roblyer said.
His long-term ambitions include a career in business and, if the opportunity presents itself, living the dream of pay for the game he’s dedicated his life to.
“I either see myself being a businessman and taking over my dad’s company for him and keeping it in the family, or I see myself playing overseas somewhere, because that is my ultimate dream, to play professional basketball,” Roblyer said, “but with that, is going to come a lot of work, but I’m willing to do it.”
