Jaxson Robinson, the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and one of the best available transfers in college basketball, made Kentucky fans sweat on Wednesday night and then rejoice on Thursday afternoon.
After allowing the 11:59 p.m. NBA Draft withdrawal deadline to come and go without making a formal announcement Wednesday, Robinson finally revealed his plan to return to college and transfer from BYU, where he was the leading scorer for a 23-win NCAA Tournament team last season, and follow his former coach, Mark Pope, to Lexington. For the Wildcats, it was worth the wait.
Robinson is the 12th player and ninth transfer to pick Kentucky since Pope got the job in April, and he might be the most important. The Cats had assembled a solid roster with a mix of rugged defenders and 3-point shooters, but they still sorely needed to land a wing scorer who could get buckets in a variety of ways. The 6-foot-7 Robinson, who shot 35.4 percent from 3-point range and averaged 14.2 points in just 26.4 minutes per game last season, fits that bill. The Athletic rates him the 29th-best player in the transfer portal and Kentucky’s best addition.
In BYU’s six best wins last season — Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas, San Diego State and NC State — Robinson averaged 16.8 points, shot 41.5 percent from 3 and hit 16 of 17 free throws. The former top-100 recruit previously spent two seasons in the SEC, one each at Texas A&M and Arkansas, before playing the last two years with BYU.
Although Pope had already flipped former BYU commit and top-40 recruit Collin Chandler to Kentucky, he had not lured any of his actual former players. Two of them signed with rival Louisville and two others pulled out of the portal and returned to the Cougars. But Robinson was the biggest fish that Pope could’ve gotten from his former school and, although it required some serious patience, he finally reeled in the ideal piece to complete his first Kentucky roster. The Wildcats might still use the 13th and final scholarship on a long-term project, but this was the one they had to have.
Robinson joins fellow transfers Ansley Almonor (Fairleigh Dickinson), Koby Brea (Dayton), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest), Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State), Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma) and Amari Williams (Drexel). That group combined to make 424 of 1,069 3-point attempts last season, good for 39.7 percent, which would’ve ranked fourth nationally. Butler, Oweh and Williams are high-end defenders; almost everyone else on the roster can shoot.
Five Wildcats — Brea, Kriisa, Almonor, Carr and Robinson — made at least 35 3s at a clip of 35 percent or better. Trent Noah, Travis Perry and Chandler, a trio of incoming four-star freshmen, all shot better than 40 percent from 3 as high school seniors. Brea led the NCAA in 3-point percentage (.498) and Pope’s BYU offense ranked second nationally in 3-point attempts last season. So we have a pretty good idea of how Kentucky is going to play offensively next season.
What Robinson brings to the table, though, is a player who can do much more than just catch and shoot. He’s excellent at getting his shot off the bounce or on the move and is a capable scorer inside the arc, with his size and length (a 6-foot-11 ¼ wingspan at the NBA Combine) helping him finish at the rim. He also shot 90.8 percent from the free-throw line last season.
Robinson is bigger than coveted North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier, a wing option who picked Tennessee over Kentucky last week, and much more proven against high-major competition. Those factors, plus the familiarity with Pope’s system, made this a perfect match. It also allowed the Wildcats to flex their NIL muscles, because Robinson certainly had other lucrative options. He was worth both the wait and whatever the cost because his addition now solidifies UK as a legitimate preseason top-25 team. The Athletic’s CJ Moore already had the Cats ranked before Robinson committed.
With this roster, Pope should have an NCAA Tournament team, at minimum, in Year 1.
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