Aurora’s Robinson inducted into MIAA Hall of Fame

Former Lady Houn’ Dawg excelled at basketball in high school, college career at Pitt State
An Aurora native was recently honored for her accomplishments as a college athlete during her years at Pittsburg State University, 1990-1993. Dani Robinson was inducted into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame on Monday, June 3, in Kansas City.
Robinson a standout athlete in high school
Robinson, then Dani Fronabarger, began playing basketball while attending Aurora Junior High School. She credited her parents’ influence with instilling a love of the game in her.
“Both of my parents encouraged me to get involved in sports,” she said. “The more I played basketball, the more I loved the game. My father was a great basketball player and taught me a lot about the game, therefore much of my inspiration came from him.”  
She continued playing through high school, and by her senior year, she was averaging 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Her performance on the court made her a standout athlete.
“I earned first team All-Conference and first team All-District honors my junior and senior years,” she said, “and second team All-State my senior year. In high school, I played AAU basketball on a team out of the Joplin area, which made it to Nationals two years.”
An amazing athlete at Pitt State
Into her career at Pitt State, Robinson continued to stand out. According to information provided by the university, she was the Lady Gorilla’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, gaining 1,687 points and 705 rebounds. She also earned honorable mention Kodak NCAA Division II All-America honors twice during her career, a three-time first-team All-MIAA selection, was named the MIAA Player of the Year during her junior year and earned GTE Academic All-America honors. She graduated from Pitt State with a Bachelor of Science in biology.
Robinson said she was pleasantly surprised to find out she was chosen for the honor.
“My coach at Pitt State, Steve High, was the one to contact me and tell me I was chosen to be inducted,” she said. “I am honored to have been chosen. Since 30-plus years have passed since playing at Pitt State, it was wonderful to reminisce, and it brought back such great memories of my teammates and coaches and years at Pitt State.”
Many people made Robinson’s accomplishments possible
Looking back at her career, Robinson said she had many people to thank for making her accomplishments at Pitt State possible.
“I was so blessed to have had an opportunity to play college basketball at Pittsburg State and earn my degree,” she said. “I owe so much to both of my parents, Ed and Donna Fronabarger, who have supported me in so many different ways over the years and throughout my basketball career. I have had many great coaches that had a tremendous impact on me, not only with regard to playing basketball, but teaching me important life lessons. Coach High was one of those influential coaches in my life, and I am so grateful he gave me the opportunity to play at Pitt State. I had several high school coaches that made an impact, in addition to my AAU coach Bobby Waggoner and Show-Me Games coach Sherry Rouner. An award like this is definitely not possible without great coaches and great teammates, so I would like to give credit to my awesome teammates and coaching staff at Pittsburg State.”