Hannah Robbins
Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services
Hannah Robbins Finds the Path to Healing Runs Through Bozeman, Bobcat Women's Basketball
2/27/2025 5:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball
"The Lord will watch us both while we are apart from each other”
BOZEMAN, Montana – Before every basketball game in Montana State's 2024-25 women's basketball season, Bobcat players pull on shooting shirts. A shamrock adorns the right sleeve, a tribute to a fallen soldier that most Bobcat players never met.
And every time she sees it, sophomore forward Hannah Robbins feels closer to her brother Liam. "It feels like he's with me," she says less than nine months after his tragic death in an auto accident, "like I have a part of him with me. Just looking over at my team and seeing it and knowing that they're supporting me and I can lean on them if I need to."
The healing continues for the Robbins family after the loss of Liam, the oldest of Hannah's two siblings, and Hannah has found ways both obvious and subtle to help that process. Since last June's tragedy – details remain private while the military investigation is ongoing – Hannah has adorned herself with tattoos of a tiny shamrock and a Bible verse (Genesis 31:49, which says in part, "(T)he Lord will watch us both while we are apart from each other"), but MSU head coach Tricia Binford's offer of the shamrock on the shooting shirt hit the hardest.
"Oh, I cried," Robbins said of the gesture. "I was just so grateful and felt so blessed to have people that care that much about me and want to help represent my brother and who he was. It meant a lot to me that they wanted to share that with me and express that with me."
Things have come at Hannah Robbins fast since the terrible day last June when everything changed. Liam, a soldier in the U.S. Army, had landed in New York after a deployment in Syria, and was on the phone with their father Rob when the accident occurred. "I remember being in the room with my sister and we heard yelling," Hannah recalls. "We usually have the TV so loud that we didn't think about it, and when we went out there they were freaking out."
Panic and confusion filled the initial moments, until the official phone call came. "Obviously we were in touch with the military and the police at that point," she said, "just waiting. And they called and told us the news."
A typhoon of activity followed – dealing with the military and local officials in New York, funeral arrangements, trying to understand and process what had occurred. The family buried Liam in late June in Phoenix, and two days later "it was pack up and shove everything in the car and get going," Hannah said. Just more than 16 hours later she arrived in Bozeman ready for a new school, a new team, a new segment of her life.
Her new team was intentional in easing the transition. "It's been just one day at a time in the journey of (learning) what we need to support her in the right way," Binford said. No playbook exists for helping a college basketball player deal with the death of a sibling, particularly one joining a new program. "There are going to be different moments that hit her at different times and we just wanted to help her through that process."
Robbins grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when she was 14. Rob Robbins, Hannah's father, starred in basketball for the University of New Mexico, so when it came time for Hannah to choose a college, the Lobos emerged as a natural choice.
"I grew up watching the Lobos play, I was around the atmosphere, I was familiar with it, my dad played for the Lobos," she said. "So I think there were a lot of connections and a lot of comfortability." Her scoring averages of 16.5 points a game at PHH Prep High School as a junior and 20.1 as a senior were impressive enough for Mountain West coaches to name her the league's preseason freshman of the year in 2022-23.
But things didn't click. An injury prevented Robbins from playing that season, and before the 2023-24 season she left the program. "I think it just wasn't an environment that was healthy for me mentally," she recalled. "Most of my team, after I had left, ended up leaving, so I think everyone felt the same way."
One player who departed the UNM program ahead of Robbins was Brooke Berry, a Billings product who spent the 2022 fall semester at UNM before transferring to MSU. "Me and Brooke had (stayed in touch)," Robbins said, and Binford offered that her presence eased the transition. "I think that really helped."
Montana State was among the first schools Robbins heard from upon entering the transfer portal, and while she played with Berry at UNM and Katelynn (Limardo) Martin on a Phoenix AAU team, she didn't lean on them early in the process. "I hadn't really reached out to KJ or Brooke yet because it's so hectic in the portal and you're never really sure which way you're going to go," Robbins recalled. "I'm not sure how much they knew as far as my recruitment, but I messaged them before I took a visit out here, like, 'Hey, excited to see you!'"
Looking to add an offensive contributor, Binford leaned on assistant coaches Sunny Smallwood and Ryan Johnson. "Both Ryan and I had seen her when she was in high school," Smallwood said, "and really liked her game. She fits us offensively because she's versatile, she's very good passer, she can score the ball in different ways."
Robbins' spring-time recruiting visit to MSU proved a prime reconnection opportunity for Martin. "Playing (travel basketball) with Hannah was great," said Martin, now a Bobcat senior. "We were both kind of the quiet girls on the team, we were both very reserved and not as vocal as other people on the team. We enjoyed playing with each other and the way we connected on so many different levels was awesome, so having the chance to play in college is cool."
Martin helped Robbins through a difficult transition period. "I had just moved to Arizona and hadn't been around basketball as big as it was (in the Phoenix AAU scene), and it was a tough transition for me. Having someone that was looking out for me, it meant a lot to me."
High school hoops proved to be an airy time for Robbins. She traveled extensively with both her prep school team and in travel ball, enjoying team success while landing all-conference and Tempe all-city honors. "There's not a lot of responsibility that comes with high school basketball," she said. "You just get to play and have fun, so the biggest thing for me was playing with my best friends and making memories. We got to cut down nets, and obviously you're honored with all the awards."
While Hannah was "making memories with my team and playing against some of the top players in the country" and then transitioning into the college basketball lifestyle, Liam followed a different path by entering the U.S. Army after high school. "I think it was something that my brother needed at that point in his life," she said, calling him "a very structured person" and "very driven."
Liam Robbins, described by Hannah as "the most intelligent person I've ever met" with the "highest military entrance score in all of Arizona," worked with drones in the air cavalry. "I think he just enjoyed being a part of something, he was someone who loved making a difference, and serving his country was a huge honor for him and something that he was really proud of," she said.
The familiarity of the MSU staff with Robbins through her high school career and her relationships with Berry and Martin made the recruiting process more comfortable and helped bond her to the program. So did the caring shown by Binford and her staff. "I think just how much support they've shown me and how understanding they've been with me and what I need throughout this year," Robbins said. "They've shown up for me and they've proven that they care about me and my family and they'll be here for me whichever way I need it."
One of the times she needed it the most was before she even arrived in Bozeman, which Binford sensed. "When she called (last summer) to tell us she wasn't going to get here on time, and explained why, we knew we needed a complete pivot into the reality of how we can support this kid in her journey of working back from this tragedy," Binford said.
The first step along that road happened almost immediately, when Binford and Smallwood traveled to Phoenix for Liam's funeral. "Them coming to Arizona (for the funeral) really meant a lot to me," Robbins said. "I knew these were people I could trust and that I want to play for."
The presence of two long-time friends in the MSU program created an easy landing spot in returning to college basketball and a safe environment after her brother's passing. "They've made me feel at home and like I was one of them. I already knew two players on the team so it was easier to get to know everyone and understand how things work around here."
That situation, Robbins said, created a much-needed sense of much-needed normalcy. "They haven't treated me any differently because of (her loss), which I really appreciate."
Martin calls her reunion with Robbins "amazing. Off the court she's always been someone who's supported me, and I hope I've done the same with her," she said.
Robbins' arrival at MSU has coincided with the program's most historic season, featuring the Bobcats' longest single-season win streak in history, 18 games and counting. The team is one win away from clinching a Big Sky regular season championship and setting a record for most wins in a season. "It's almost once in a lifetime," Robbins said.
More important even than Montana State's success this season is the support and caring Robbins says she's found in Bozeman and at MSU. "There's so much love, within the team and with the fans, everyone in Bozeman. It's such a special place to play, and you just can't really understand unless you're in it."
Montana State honors military personnel at Thursday night's women's basketball game against Portland State (7 pm in Worthington Arena). As they have several times this season, the Robbins family will be on hand, and Hannah knows she'll experience reminders of her brother.
She'll see the shamrock, a tribute to Liam's favorite color and the family's Irish heritage, and the U.S. flag. She'll see her family in the stands, and her teammates, and she knows what she'll feel.
"Just the love. And the support."
#GoCatsGo
And every time she sees it, sophomore forward Hannah Robbins feels closer to her brother Liam. "It feels like he's with me," she says less than nine months after his tragic death in an auto accident, "like I have a part of him with me. Just looking over at my team and seeing it and knowing that they're supporting me and I can lean on them if I need to."
The healing continues for the Robbins family after the loss of Liam, the oldest of Hannah's two siblings, and Hannah has found ways both obvious and subtle to help that process. Since last June's tragedy – details remain private while the military investigation is ongoing – Hannah has adorned herself with tattoos of a tiny shamrock and a Bible verse (Genesis 31:49, which says in part, "(T)he Lord will watch us both while we are apart from each other"), but MSU head coach Tricia Binford's offer of the shamrock on the shooting shirt hit the hardest.
"Oh, I cried," Robbins said of the gesture. "I was just so grateful and felt so blessed to have people that care that much about me and want to help represent my brother and who he was. It meant a lot to me that they wanted to share that with me and express that with me."
Things have come at Hannah Robbins fast since the terrible day last June when everything changed. Liam, a soldier in the U.S. Army, had landed in New York after a deployment in Syria, and was on the phone with their father Rob when the accident occurred. "I remember being in the room with my sister and we heard yelling," Hannah recalls. "We usually have the TV so loud that we didn't think about it, and when we went out there they were freaking out."
Panic and confusion filled the initial moments, until the official phone call came. "Obviously we were in touch with the military and the police at that point," she said, "just waiting. And they called and told us the news."
A typhoon of activity followed – dealing with the military and local officials in New York, funeral arrangements, trying to understand and process what had occurred. The family buried Liam in late June in Phoenix, and two days later "it was pack up and shove everything in the car and get going," Hannah said. Just more than 16 hours later she arrived in Bozeman ready for a new school, a new team, a new segment of her life.
Her new team was intentional in easing the transition. "It's been just one day at a time in the journey of (learning) what we need to support her in the right way," Binford said. No playbook exists for helping a college basketball player deal with the death of a sibling, particularly one joining a new program. "There are going to be different moments that hit her at different times and we just wanted to help her through that process."
Robbins grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when she was 14. Rob Robbins, Hannah's father, starred in basketball for the University of New Mexico, so when it came time for Hannah to choose a college, the Lobos emerged as a natural choice.
"I grew up watching the Lobos play, I was around the atmosphere, I was familiar with it, my dad played for the Lobos," she said. "So I think there were a lot of connections and a lot of comfortability." Her scoring averages of 16.5 points a game at PHH Prep High School as a junior and 20.1 as a senior were impressive enough for Mountain West coaches to name her the league's preseason freshman of the year in 2022-23.
But things didn't click. An injury prevented Robbins from playing that season, and before the 2023-24 season she left the program. "I think it just wasn't an environment that was healthy for me mentally," she recalled. "Most of my team, after I had left, ended up leaving, so I think everyone felt the same way."
One player who departed the UNM program ahead of Robbins was Brooke Berry, a Billings product who spent the 2022 fall semester at UNM before transferring to MSU. "Me and Brooke had (stayed in touch)," Robbins said, and Binford offered that her presence eased the transition. "I think that really helped."
Montana State was among the first schools Robbins heard from upon entering the transfer portal, and while she played with Berry at UNM and Katelynn (Limardo) Martin on a Phoenix AAU team, she didn't lean on them early in the process. "I hadn't really reached out to KJ or Brooke yet because it's so hectic in the portal and you're never really sure which way you're going to go," Robbins recalled. "I'm not sure how much they knew as far as my recruitment, but I messaged them before I took a visit out here, like, 'Hey, excited to see you!'"
Looking to add an offensive contributor, Binford leaned on assistant coaches Sunny Smallwood and Ryan Johnson. "Both Ryan and I had seen her when she was in high school," Smallwood said, "and really liked her game. She fits us offensively because she's versatile, she's very good passer, she can score the ball in different ways."
Robbins' spring-time recruiting visit to MSU proved a prime reconnection opportunity for Martin. "Playing (travel basketball) with Hannah was great," said Martin, now a Bobcat senior. "We were both kind of the quiet girls on the team, we were both very reserved and not as vocal as other people on the team. We enjoyed playing with each other and the way we connected on so many different levels was awesome, so having the chance to play in college is cool."
Martin helped Robbins through a difficult transition period. "I had just moved to Arizona and hadn't been around basketball as big as it was (in the Phoenix AAU scene), and it was a tough transition for me. Having someone that was looking out for me, it meant a lot to me."
High school hoops proved to be an airy time for Robbins. She traveled extensively with both her prep school team and in travel ball, enjoying team success while landing all-conference and Tempe all-city honors. "There's not a lot of responsibility that comes with high school basketball," she said. "You just get to play and have fun, so the biggest thing for me was playing with my best friends and making memories. We got to cut down nets, and obviously you're honored with all the awards."
While Hannah was "making memories with my team and playing against some of the top players in the country" and then transitioning into the college basketball lifestyle, Liam followed a different path by entering the U.S. Army after high school. "I think it was something that my brother needed at that point in his life," she said, calling him "a very structured person" and "very driven."
Liam Robbins, described by Hannah as "the most intelligent person I've ever met" with the "highest military entrance score in all of Arizona," worked with drones in the air cavalry. "I think he just enjoyed being a part of something, he was someone who loved making a difference, and serving his country was a huge honor for him and something that he was really proud of," she said.
The familiarity of the MSU staff with Robbins through her high school career and her relationships with Berry and Martin made the recruiting process more comfortable and helped bond her to the program. So did the caring shown by Binford and her staff. "I think just how much support they've shown me and how understanding they've been with me and what I need throughout this year," Robbins said. "They've shown up for me and they've proven that they care about me and my family and they'll be here for me whichever way I need it."
One of the times she needed it the most was before she even arrived in Bozeman, which Binford sensed. "When she called (last summer) to tell us she wasn't going to get here on time, and explained why, we knew we needed a complete pivot into the reality of how we can support this kid in her journey of working back from this tragedy," Binford said.
The first step along that road happened almost immediately, when Binford and Smallwood traveled to Phoenix for Liam's funeral. "Them coming to Arizona (for the funeral) really meant a lot to me," Robbins said. "I knew these were people I could trust and that I want to play for."
The presence of two long-time friends in the MSU program created an easy landing spot in returning to college basketball and a safe environment after her brother's passing. "They've made me feel at home and like I was one of them. I already knew two players on the team so it was easier to get to know everyone and understand how things work around here."
That situation, Robbins said, created a much-needed sense of much-needed normalcy. "They haven't treated me any differently because of (her loss), which I really appreciate."
Martin calls her reunion with Robbins "amazing. Off the court she's always been someone who's supported me, and I hope I've done the same with her," she said.
Robbins' arrival at MSU has coincided with the program's most historic season, featuring the Bobcats' longest single-season win streak in history, 18 games and counting. The team is one win away from clinching a Big Sky regular season championship and setting a record for most wins in a season. "It's almost once in a lifetime," Robbins said.
More important even than Montana State's success this season is the support and caring Robbins says she's found in Bozeman and at MSU. "There's so much love, within the team and with the fans, everyone in Bozeman. It's such a special place to play, and you just can't really understand unless you're in it."
Montana State honors military personnel at Thursday night's women's basketball game against Portland State (7 pm in Worthington Arena). As they have several times this season, the Robbins family will be on hand, and Hannah knows she'll experience reminders of her brother.
She'll see the shamrock, a tribute to Liam's favorite color and the family's Irish heritage, and the U.S. flag. She'll see her family in the stands, and her teammates, and she knows what she'll feel.
"Just the love. And the support."
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballBobcat Insider TV Show
Wednesday, January 26
vs. Seattle (Live Stream Video)
Saturday, December 18
Inside The Brick (Lexi Deden)
Thursday, November 04
Inside The Brick (Leia Beattie)
Tuesday, November 02
