The President’s Legacy Award is given to a community member who has contributed to a career of work and leadership to youth and community sports and physical activity. The Award recognizes their tireless effort serving young people and their willingness to go beyond what was expected for their community.
2023
Linda Roberts
Ms. Roberts is a native of St. Paul who reached collegiate and professional status as a basketball player while spending most of her post career in athletic administration at the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Roberts spent her Big Ten basketball career in the early 1980’s emerging as a nationally recognized player. She was nominated for the Margaret Wade trophy in 1980 and 1981 as one of the nation’s top female collegiate basketball players. Roberts still holds University of Minnesota records in several statistical categories in starts, shooting and rebounding. Her #21 Jersey now prominently hangs in Williams Arena as a member of its retired hall of fame numbers. After a brief stint in professional women’s basketball, she returned to her alma mater in 1992 as the schools’ first Black female athletic administration assistant. When the men’s and women’s departments merged in 2002, she remained in the department for 27 years directing a variety of programs focused on student-athlete support and mentoring.
Linda has received numerous awards and accolades for her career in sports. The Minneapolis Star Tribune Newspaper selected her as one of Minnesota’s 100 Most Important Sports Figures of the Century. Linda has co-founded one of the long-standing mentoring programs and basketball clinics in St. Paul primarily for young girls.
