North Carolina basketball assistant Steve Robinson won’t be on the bench for tonight’s season opening game at Tulane. The long-time aide to coach Roy Williams is suffering from a blood clot in his right leg and has been advised not to travel until the condition has been addressed. “He’ll still be involved in practices, but they don’t want him flying, and that’s all it is,” Williams said a preseason press conference in Chapel Hill before leaving for New Orleans on Thursday. “This is what you work all of the time for, is to go play in somebody else’s house and try to whip them. So it’s sad for us, sad for him, but we also want to make sure we keep his best interests at heart.” Williams said that Robinson will also stay home when the Tar Heels travel to Hawaii next week. He will be on the bench for home games against Chattanooga on Sunday and Long Beach State next Tuesday. Robinson was diagnosed with the blood clot after experiencing pain and swelling in his right leg. Other than the restriction on travel, there will be no changes in his coaching duties. “I think it’s something that he will get over,” Williams said. “They feel very good about their plan to help him, but he won’t be making those two trips with us.”
