ST. LOUIS — Robbie Avila showed up for his senior year at Oak Forest High School with a new look. Since sometime around sixth grade, he had worn prescription Rec Specs goggles every day because his parents had grown tired of buying new glasses.
In earlier years, some frames would only last days, casualties of wrestling matches with his brother. Robbie had even smartened up enough to call out, “Wait, my glasses.” He’d set them to the side, and somehow one of the Avila boys would end up pinned on top of them anyway.
Advertisement On the basketball court, the Rec Specs were his super weapon. He looked a certain way, and ..
. “People always doubted him,” his father, Juan, said. “No matter where we went, he would hear it.
And he would silently pick them apart.” In eighth grade, Avila had convinced his parents he was responsible enough to wear his glasses again. Now, just a year away from college, he decided he could handle contacts.
The transition was annoying. He struggled to get the contacts to fit in his eye and stay there. They didn’t feel right.
Finally, his older brother spoke up. Who was he trying to be? “You’re Robbie with the goggles,” he told him. “If you don’t have your goggles, you’re not Robbie.
” Three years later, Robbie with the goggles is one of the most recognizable faces in college basketball. He became a cult hero over the course of the 2023-24 season thanks to his eyewear, his tattoo sleeve and a skill set belying his pudgy frame .