Randy Robinson to be honored on Feb. 13

Photo and story by Karen Pearlman

Feb. 12, 2026 (El Cajon) -- East County's education and basketball communities are going to gather on Feb. 13 to pay tribute to a man whose name became synonymous with El Cajon Valley High School academics and athletics for more than 30 years.

Randy Robinson, the legendary former Braves coach, athletic director and beloved Grossmont Union High School District teacher who passed away from complications of pancreatic cancer on Dec. 19, 2024, will be honored during a special halftime ceremony during halftime of the boys basketball game between El Cajon Valley and West Hills.

The court inside the gym will formally be named after Robinson.

The game starts at 7 p.m. at the school's gym, and is the Braves' final regular-season home game. El Cajon Valley High is at 1035 E. Madison Ave., in El Cajon.

The ceremony will celebrate a career that spanned from 1982 to 2012. Robinson pulled double duty in the coaching world, having served as the head coach for both the boys and girls varsity programs at El Cajon Valley.

His impact extended beyond the high school gym; he also coached the women’s program at Grossmont College during the mid- to late-1980s and was a founding father of the Grossmont Holiday Classic, reportedly the second-oldest community college women's basketball tournament in California.

Colleagues and former players have shared remembrances of Robinson not just for his wins, but also for his open-gym policy. Robinson was known for keeping the doors to the Braves' gymnasium open on weekends, providing a safe haven for students to play, grow and build friendships.

While many knew him as a coach, Robinson was equally impactful in the classroom.

A dedicated social science teacher for three decades, he was a passionate advocate for literacy. The Randy Robinson Reader Award continues to encourage ECV students to engage with literature focused on social justice and meaningful history.

After his 2012 retirement, Robinson and other El Cajon Valley library and staff members started collecting and storing vintage ECV items from former students in his old classroom on the school grounds. A museum opened on campus to great fanfare in 2016.

At the time of its grand opening, Robinson said, “The El Cajon Valley has changed so much in the last 35 years. From individual houses to apartment buildings. From an all-white campus to the most wonderfully ethnically mixed campus in the county.

"El Cajon Valley has the largest population of people of Middle East descent as well as a sizable Hispanic population. It is the new face of America."