Craig Robinson reveals a moment that intimidated him

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Sat May 15 10:03am EDT

Craig Robinson reveals a moment that intimidated him

The most intimidating moment of Craig Robinson's two-year coaching tenure at Oregon State didn't involve anything having to do with basketball.

It was when the Oregon State coach stepped onto the set of "The View" recently to promote his new book, "A Game of Character," and got peppered with questions by Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behard and Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

"There were so many people sitting there, so many different personalities,'' Robinson told The Oregonian. "Who would like the book? Who wouldn't like the book?''

Robinson, brother-in-law to President Obama, can take solace that most people seem to have enjoyed his book considering it has soared to No. 31 on the New York Times' best sellers list. He just completed a whirlwind promotional tour for the book, criss-crossing the nation to appear on everything from Larry King Live, to Jim Rome is Burning to the Colbert Report.

It might seem as though Robinson was shirking his recruiting responsibilities with all this self-promotion, but the Oregon State coach said the positive publicity for his program and the school helped spread the word better than he could have alone.

"I think the amount of exposure for Oregon State men's basketball, let alone Oregon State itself, was just tremendous," he said.

As for his appearance on The View, Robinson said he felt more comfortable after Walters held up his book to the camera and said, "I want to recommend it, especially for families and especially for kids."

Oregon State fans are thrilled for you, coach. They just also want to see evidence of the recruiting boost you keep talking about as well.