Robert Nathaniel Presley April 30, β March 25, was an American professional basketball player. Presley was born in Birmingham, Alabama , and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He attended three high schools in Detroit and struggled academically despite having potential as a basketball player. Presley was sent to California where he benefitted from alleviated academic standards and graduated from high school.
He became eligible to attend Mt. San Jacinto College where he starred on the basketball team as a sophomore. Presley transferred to play for the California Golden Bears from to His suspension and subsequent reinstatement in sparked racial tension on the team and resulted in the resignations of head coach Rene Herrerias and athletic director Pete Newell.
Presley was expected to start his professional career with the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association ABA in but quit the team before appearing in a game. Presley's personal life was marked by turmoil and poverty. He struggled to make an adequate income from his basketball career and failed in other business ventures.
After experiencing several mental breakdowns in his pursuit for a successful basketball career, Presley drowned himself in the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Presley was born on April 30, , [ 1 ] in Birmingham, Alabama.
Presley attended the Moore School for Boys which was a predominantly black institution that was established for troubled children. Presley spent the rest of the year at a job where he reconditioned used cars. Presley had formed a connection with George Gaddy, a physical education instructor and manager of a local sports club for underprivileged children, during his attendance at Moore. San Jacinto College which, as a California junior college, only required students to be 18 years old and Banning High School where he achieved his high school diploma at the age of Presley returned to Mt.
