College basketball players who leave school to enter the NBA join a league in which money and fame can lead to temptations and vices.Former LSU center Stanley Roberts left LSU after two years to pursue a professional basketball career in 1990. He gave into temptation and, on Nov. 24, 1999, was expelled from the NBA for drug violations.More than 20 years later, the 40-year-old former Tiger star is back at LSU and is two years from receiving his college degree.Roberts said he’s glad he came back to LSU, and he recommends every athlete should get his degree at some point.”If they do decide to finish early, they need to come back and get their degree, because without that piece of paper, it’s hard to get a job in today’s economy,” Roberts said.The 7-footer came back to school in the fall of 2007 and has been studying human resources education, but Roberts said he plans on switching his major to sports management.Roberts wants more than just a degree — he wants a career as a basketball coach.Roberts has tried his hand at coaching. He worked the NBA Players’ Association’s basketball camps before he came back to the University and currently joins former LSU teammate Randy Devall each weekend to teach kids the game of basketball.Devall has run a basketball camp for seven years called Randy Devall’s Better Basketball Skills, and he said Roberts has caught on to coaching and is a good teacher.”When working with the kids, he started off kind of slow, but it’s just so natural for him now,” Devall said. “The kids love working with him. He has a great feel for coaching and dealing with people.”Roberts will be Devall’s assistant coach for the Lady Angels basketball team this summer for girls ages 13 and younger.When Roberts is not in school and not coaching kids, the Hopkins, S.C., native works as a student worker for the Athletic Department, where he began working in the spring of 2008.  Roberts said the job requires him to attend many LSU sporting events, but he makes sure he doesn’t have to work during LSU basketball games because he likes to attend the games as a fan.”I try to go there, enjoy the games and pick up some coaching tips,” Roberts said.Roberts attended five home games during LSU’s 2009-10 season. He said the team’s struggles were to be expected.He said LSU coach Trent Johnson did well during the 2008-09 season by leading the team to Southeastern Conference regular season championship, but this season was a rebuilding year after losing key players from the championship team.”Trent did the best job he could in the position he was in,” Roberts said. “He had a lot of walk-ons, and he didn’t have the total spectrum of his team in place.”Roberts said he would like to coach at the college level in the future, but his current goal is to get a degree and coach a high school basketball team after he graduates. Devall said Roberts is on the right path to accomplish his goals. “Stanley’s decision to come back to get his degree is probably the best thing he could have done,” Devall said. “From what I’ve seen, I think Stanley has a bright future in coaching.”—-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected].