Robin Roberts gets to follow two loves this weekend. His alma mater is in the Final Four and his Philadelphia Phillies open their World Series title defense.

A Hall of Fame pitcher with the Phillies and three other teams, Roberts went to Michigan State in 1945 to play basketball, mostly at forward.

But he did not play in the NCAA tournament, as has been reported. Roberts' last season was 1947, and the Spartans didn't make their first tournament appearance until 1957.

A 2007 story on MLB.com stated Roberts and Dave Winfield were the only baseball Hall of Famers to also play in the NCAA tournament.

Winfield, a starter on the University of Minnesota's 1972 tournament team, repeated that last week in an interview with USA TODAY's Reid Cherner.

Asked if he knew how the story got started, Roberts said succinctly, "No I don't."

Even if he had played in the tournament, Roberts says it wasn't a big deal back then, playing second fiddle to the NIT.

"(It) wasn't that publicized," Roberts said. "They didn't have all the television (coverage)."

His first college basketball memory: The 1942 Illinois team known as "The Whiz Kids," the same nickname given Roberts and the Phillies in 1950, when they won the National League pennant.

Roberts finished with 286 wins and 2,357 strikeouts. He continued to play basketball while in the majors.

"We had a team that traveled around the (Philadelphia) area. We would play 15 or 20 games … and it kept us in shape."

No winter training regimens like today.

"I wouldn't recommend (offseason basketball) now the way everything's going for the ballplayers," says the 82-year-old, who says he made $50 a game.

Living near Tampa, Roberts follows the Rays, who, along with the Phillies, gave him something special in 2008.

"I said (last August) it would be nice if the Rays and the Phillies ended up in the World Series -- and by golly they did."

This weekend, Roberts gets a double play. The Spartans -- "I'm rooting hard for them" -- play Connecticut on Saturday, a day before the Phillies raise their championship banner and entertain the Atlanta Braves.