Robert (Allen) took up basketball in the 8th grade after being given a back board and rim by a departing HS coach who recognized his potential. Because of his unrelenting practice in his backyard, by the end of his senior year was picked for the Ohio Allstate Team. He was the second leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference with the highest percentage scoring from the field.

Recruited by multiple large schools such as OSU, NYU, WVU and Duquesne University; he accepted the grant from Duquesne. He played at Duquesne for two years and was selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the top fifty sophomores in the nation. The same year he was selected as one of the top four Forwards in the East by Basketball Magazine.

After a year in the Peace Corps and two years in the U.S. Army (6 months on the Fort Gordon Basketball team) he moved to NYC and played in several Basketball leagues in and around the city. Meanwhile he worked in the financial markets initially with E.F.Hutton. He quickly became an expert in over-the-counter equity options and was subsequently hired by David Lipman, the Controller of Salomon Brothers.

David was the coach and player of the Solomon Brothers Basketball team when he arrived. He quickly joined the team and when David departed, took over coaching the team for approximately 5 years until he left the firm.

He continued his financial career working with and for notable figures such as Wayne Wagner (Plexus Group) who is renowned for his work creating early Index Funds and Trading Costs Analysis.

He also worked with Gordon Getty and Mike Cagney at Reflow Management creating the ability of Mutual Funds to lower their trading costs to enhance returns to the mutual fund holders.