Howard Moore only has one worry about Robo Kreps.
“He’s the type of guy who says, ‘Is there anything I’m not doing?’ ” the Illinois-Chicago coach said. “And to be honest, if I ask him to do anything else he may pass out.”
It’s true that the senior point guard, whose nickname since childhood derived from the movie RoboCop, works like a machine.
He leads the Horizon League with 37.5 minutes per game. And after four years at UIC having never missed a game, he’s the face of the program.
This is no surprise to anyone in Forsyth, Ill.
“He was a gym rat since he was 2 years old,” said his father Dave Kreps, who was a former high school coach and a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois in the mid-1980s when former UIC coach Jimmy Collins was an assistant there.
Kreps watched game film with his father, tried to mimic Pete Maravich’s shot off tapes and participated in camps with 4th graders as a 1st grader at Illinois. He spent about 2 1/2 hours three or four times a week traveling to St. Louis for his travel basketball team, which his dad coached along with his junior high team.
“We’d always play one on one, and he’d beat me every time,” Kreps said. “I would be so mad I couldn’t even say good night. But he taught me some lessons in life, to keep fighting. He supports me so much.”
Unaccustomed to losing after winning state titles at Maroa-Forsyth and being named a runner-up to Derrick Rose as Mr. Illinois, Kreps and his dad talked briefly when he was a sophomore about transferring.
“He just loved UIC,” said Dave Kreps, who stopped coaching after 29 years to watch his son play. “He said, ‘Dad, that’s where I committed and where I want to stay.'”
While UIC is in the midst of a disappointing streak of nine straight losses, Kreps hasn’t let his confidence wane.
The Flames (6-16, 1-9), whose season highlight is an upset over then-No. 12 Illinois, are trying to climb out of last in the Horizon League. Kreps hopes to lead the ascension.
He’s fewer than 100 points from becoming the ninth player in school history to score 1,500 career points and made his 200th 3-pointer Saturday in an 83-61 victory over Youngstown State.
He switched to point guard from shooting guard this season out of necessity and added 30 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-1 frame in the offseason — some of which he has shred. He still is averaging 15 ppg, seventh best in the league.
Kreps hopes to play as long as possible, whether overseas or in the developmental league or possibly getting picked up by an NBA team. Then he plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a coach.
Watching tapes of his dad’s teams on winter break convinced Kreps that was his calling.
“He looked like such a leader all the guys were staring into his eyes every timeout,” he said. “It made me realize what I wanted to do, no doubt about it.”
His dad hopes to be there with him.
“I’m hoping the old man can go along on his coattails,” Dave Kreps said.
