Kentucky basketball’s Jaxson Robinson eager to show SEC what it missed in his final season

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LEXINGTON — Months before the 2024-25 college basketball season began, with Kentucky basketball in the middle of summer workouts, newcomer Jaxson Robinson was asked what he hoped to add to his game in his final go-round as a collegian.

His answer had nothing to do with a quality measured solely by numbers. Instead, as the only player on the roster who already had experience with first-year UK coach Mark Pope, Robinson said he wanted to be someone teammates could turn to whenever they needed advice.

“That’s the world I’ve been trying to step into since I stepped foot on campus … so just making sure I’m doing my job by bringing everybody along with me,” Robinson said, “and just letting everybody figure out the system.”

It’s a role that never would have materialized had Robinson made a different decision last year.

After his second season with Pope at BYU, Robinson went through the NBA draft process. But he decided to withdraw and follow Pope to Lexington.

“It was crazy. I’d worked out in Milwaukee the day of the deadline, and on my way to the airport, I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do before 12 o’clock hit,” said Robinson, alluding to the time he either had to remain in the draft or return to college.

As he prepared to hop on a flight back to his home state of Oklahoma, Robinson deliberated with his family. An hour before the plane took off, he made up his mind: Robinson put off the pros for one more year. He called his agent to inform them of the decision.

Then, Robinson phoned Pope with the news: The Wildcats added the Big 12’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year and BYU’s leading scorer from the 2023-24 campaign.

Through it all, Pope kept his distance, not wanting to push Robinson in one direction or the other.

“But he was also whispering behind my ear to come to Kentucky,” Robinson said. “I mean, he’s a great guy. I love coach Pope. We have a great relationship. So it was a good experience just being able to communicate with him. … Even after some of the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kentucky-basketballs-jaxson-robinson-eager-101101137.html

Author : The Courier Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-12 10:11:00

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