In 2023, Teryn Roberts, the mother of Marist men’s basketball graduate student guard Jadin Collins-Roberts, released a children’s book titled “I Deserve Better!” The book largely reflected her son’s childhood by following a protagonist, J, through a situation where an adult in his life was letting him down.
In July, Collins-Roberts followed suit with a book of his own, “I Heard You Had a Rough Day, Let’s Talk About It,” similarly based on his experiences as a child.
Growing up, Collins-Roberts’ biological father was not always in the picture. Roberts’ book centered around helping J navigate feelings of fault and emotions about not having one parent around, realizing that it’s not the child’s fault and that he was let down by someone he should be able to trust.
Collins-Roberts had to deal with those sorts of emotions as a child, so his mother wrote the book as a dedication to him.
“My goal as a parent was to help him realize that it wasn’t his fault and that he deserves better,” said Roberts. “I didn’t want him to blame himself and internalize the situation thinking he did something wrong.”
After seeing the process his mother went through in writing the book and how it was received, Collins-Roberts felt inspired to publish his own. Like her book, Collins-Roberts’ book focused on being there for children who do not have anyone to talk about their feelings with.
“My mom did that, and that inspired me,” said Collins-Roberts. “Just to inspire kids that are in similar situations.”
Author is just the newest title for Collins-Roberts. Since beginning college in 2023, he has also become the captain of the men’s basketball team and an entrepreneur with his “So Be It” clothing brand.
Collins-Roberts has built his platform in part due to the influence of both his mother and stepfather, Keith. They made sure he knew about the influence he had and that he should always use his platform for positive reasons.
On the back cover of his book, Collins-Roberts wrote: “Be what you needed when you were younger.” His mother preached that lesson to him much of his childhood, a lesson that guided him through the writing process and continues to guide him through everything he does.
“My mom was always there for me when I needed her, and she continues to be there for me,” said Collins-Roberts. “She’s always been what I needed.”
“We really live by that [saying],” said Roberts. “And he’s showing that.”
Collins-Roberts got the idea for the book about a year ago. He had an idea of what he wanted to write for some time but struggled to make it tangible at first. His former teammate, Rhyjon Blackwell, who played at Marist last season, published a book during his stint at McNeese State. Blackwell’s experience gave Collins-Roberts a push to go forward with the idea.
“Rhyjon having a book definitely [inspired me]. It would have been cool to go forward with my idea of having a short book,” said Collins-Roberts.
As the oldest of three brothers, Collins-Roberts never truly had someone to go to when he was feeling down. He was always the one that his younger siblings brought their problems to.
“Jadin is an older brother, and there were times when he could’ve benefited from having one,” said Roberts.
Through his book, Collins-Roberts aims to reach kids who had rough days and didn’t have anyone to talk to about it, like an older sibling or parental figure. He poured much of his personal life into it, detailing the things he went through and obstacles he had to face without anyone to talk about it with. He wanted children to know that one bad day doesn’t define them — life will go on.
“I wanted to tell [children] through a book that just because you had a rough day or rough week, that doesn’t have to define you,” said Collins-Roberts. “I want to inspire kids to understand that I went through the same thing and continue to go through the same thing.”
The writing process for Collins-Roberts was anything but linear. His schedule as a Division I basketball player often conflicted with the time he could dedicate to the book. Practices, film sessions, travel, games and classes were all obstacles he had to navigate in order to find time to just sit down and write.
“He has a demanding schedule, so there were times where progress wasn’t being made,” said Roberts. “Sometimes [he] had to mentally put it down and then revisit it once things lightened up.”
Upon the release of his book, Collins-Roberts immediately went to public appearances. He traveled back to his alma mater, Rutgers Prep in Somerset, New Jersey, to give out copies to students and faculty alike. For him, it felt extremely rewarding to give back to younger generations of a school and community that gave plenty to him. It also felt important to show kids in the same position he was once in that obstacles will appear, and it only matters how you navigate them.
“Don’t think I got here without having one or two rough days,” said Collins-Roberts. “I had obstacles to get over and walls to break through. I want kids to understand that I went through the same thing and continue to go through the same thing.”
Even though the book targets a younger audience, Collins-Roberts still feels that teenagers can take a positive message from his book as well. Teenage years are complicated, and even in a book targeted for kids, Collins-Roberts’ message still holds value for all age groups.
“It begins to be a lot,” said Collins-Roberts. “[Your teenage years are] probably one of the very [first] couple of years that you go through certain things.”
That mindset led to another public appearance: Highland Residential Center for Boys, a juvenile detention center in Highland, New York. Collins-Roberts appeared there with his mother to talk about his book. He had a friend connected to the center who helped him show the book to the administrators, who liked it and invited him to speak to the kids there.
At that appearance, he shared his journey with them from basketball to becoming a published author and the obstacles that came with it. For kids in that juvenile center going through a rough time, Collins-Roberts wanted them to know that it doesn’t define their future.
“[The detention center] was an amazing experience,” said his mother. “He took it upon himself, and he actually made that happen.”
Collins-Roberts has always been about trying to use his platform for positivity. He doesn’t care so much about how the book sells or how much publicity he gets; if he inspired just one person through it, that is success to him.
Edited by Jack Tomasi, Mike Duda and Max Rosen
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photos from Marist Athletics
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