GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Basketball, already Bishop Robinson’s salvation and curse in his first 19 years, may provide the path to something greater at Davenport University for the former NCAA Division I recruit.

Robinson, who has already been homeless, a standout at Loy Norrix and a washout at Western Michigan, seems to have stability and a fresh outlook with the NAIA university.

“It’s kind of not even about basketball anymore,” Robinson said. “It’s about life and goals and friendships and becoming a better person.”

Add balance to the mix as well. That has always been the goal of Davenport coach Burt Paddock, who has followed Robinson since high school, and Robinson’s guardians, Frank and April Rocco, who have taken care of him since ninth grade.

“He’s the type of kid you root for, that you want to see make it,” Paddock said. “To see what’s happening to him this season has been phenomenal for him and all those who really hope and want to see him succeed.”

“Basketball is his hook,” said April Rocco. “That gets him into a school, get established and get friends. And that buys some time for him to learn to value the education, which I think he is starting to do now.”

In the fall, Robinson took 12 hours at Davenport and had a 2.95 grade point average, which, in perspective, was about 2.95 higher than he achieved during a lost year at Western Michigan.

On the court, Paddock has slowly eased the 6-foot-3 swingman into the rotation, from limited minutes off the bench at the beginning of the season to starter the past five games. He is averaging 8.1 points and 4.3 rebounds heading into the Panthers’ 3 p.m. home game Saturday against rival Cornerstone for first in the WHAC.

What he has done at Davenport is a turnaround from what happened a year ago, and, deeper, what has happened much of Robinson’s life.

“I should have taken this choice at the beginning rather than hold off and pursue my dream of playing Division I basketball,” Robinson said. “I should have made the decision that would have made be a better man.”

Last season was supposed to be different. Robinson, who finished his high school career as Loy Norrix's all-time leading scorer with 1,395 points and was a two-time Class A all-state player, took a preferred walk-on with WMU after various scholarship offers slipped away mostly due to poor grades.

Playing in his hometown was a dream, Robinson said, but it also proved to be a nightmare.

“I did want to be home, but being around people outside of school from before I was adopted wasn’t good,” he said. “It was hard at Western. As badly as I wanted to be there, it just didn’t happen.”

The problem, he maintained, was that he redshirted, and that meant he didn’t travel with the team on away games.

“I didn’t get to travel, so there was a lot of me time,” Robinson said. “And with a lot of me time came friend time and that wasn’t always the best thing.”

That was a concern to the Roccos, both Kalamazoo Public School educators who took in Robinson at age 14 after he was left to fend for himself as a youth.

“We were one step away from panic, in all honesty,” said April Rocco.

Robinson wasn’t going back to Western; the question was where he would go overall?

The Roccos knew of Paddock, had heard about Davenport, and received a strong endorsement about both from Loy Norrix Athletic director Andrew Laboe.

In August, Robinson enrolled at Davenport.

Davenport coach Burt Paddock has slowly integrated Robinson into the starting lineup.

“The people around him are definitely pushing him in the right direction,” said Paddock, who had assistant coach Craig Heatherly monitor Robinson’s academics and make sure he got a fighting chance on campus. “And if it wasn’t for them (Roccos), he probably wouldn’t be alive today.”

The latest attempt seems to have stuck.

“There just aren’t enough positives that I could put out there for what they have done,” April Rocco said. “… For all the incredible amount of time they have supported Bishop, academically but socially, too. I just really appreciate and admire what they’ve done."

Robinson said his focus is no longer just on basketball. He wants to be a police officer and he wants to experience college.

“I feel I grew up as a man, and I’ve seen what could have happened to me at Western and still could happen if I go back to Kalamazoo,” Robinson said. “I feel like I’ve outgrown that stage of going and hanging out with people that aren’t doing anything, and now I’m hanging around with people that are all going after the same thing.”

His goals now?

“I want to graduate and get a degree and win a championship and build a relationship with teammates that are going to last forever,” he said.

Pete Wallner covers sports for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at pwallner@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.