Jaxson Robinson is no stranger to SEC basketball, starting his career at Texas A&M before making the move to Arkansas in year two. The issue? He combined to play just 300 minutes in 30 total games with eight starts between the two stops, racking up 85 points and 35 rebounds with 81 field goal attempts.
As a four-star, top-100 recruit in the class of 2020, the wing out of Oklahoma never got the shot he was looking for in the conference that just means more.
Then Mark Pope called.
“My first two years were tough for me, not being able to see the floor and still figuring out college,” Robinson said. “I came in young as a 17-year-old freshman, so just figuring out the ropes when I was younger, and then Coach Pope took a chance on me at BYU.”
Robinson went on to triple his playing time, shot attempts and points from his career totals in the SEC during his first year at BYU. Averaging 28.1 minutes per outing with 30 starts and 33 games played, his number was finally called and he quickly emerged as a consistent scoring threat with 16 double-digit efforts on 8.5 points per game while shooting 34.3 percent from three.
From there, he returned to become Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 14.2 points on 43/35/91 splits in one of the best conferences in college basketball.
What worked in Provo under Pope compared to his previous stops? The BYU coach simply gave him a chance, which is all he ever wanted when he came out of high school a couple cycles back.
“Experience, getting on the floor,” Robinson told KSR. “… Just letting me go through the growing pains, honestly. That’s what has helped me the most.”
The 6-6, 192-pound guard could have entered the draft this past summer as a likely second-round pick. Instead, he entered the portal and followed his coach to Lexington after the withdrawal deadline. No other visits or bidding wars for one of the top transfers in the country. Robinson wanted to play for Pope, returning the loyalty after putting his money where his mouth is as the first coach to truly believe in his abilities at this level.
That landed the first-year Kentucky coach his most important commitment of the offseason.
What does he want to show in his final go-round as a college basketball player? He wants to help the Wildcats hang banner No. 9, obviously, but he’s got some individual accolades in mind, as well.
“All-SEC, I want to be an All-American, obviously, but my main goal is to win a national championship with my guys,” he said.
How does he achieve those goals in Lexington?
“Just being a complete player, honestly — defensive rebounding, guarding one through four or one through three, just being able to score and find my open teammates,” Robinson told KSR. “Just being an all-around leader that, to me, is an all-around player who should be an All-SEC player.”
That overlaps with individual development on the sport’s biggest stage, an opportunity for Robinson to solidify his draft status in a conference many doubted he could play in when he first arrived.
That certainly motivates him going into his last year of eligibility.
“Just showing my growth, obviously, just all areas of my game. I think that I’ve definitely improved,” he said. “Going out there and being able to compete back in the SEC will be fun, obviously. A lot of people don’t think I can play in the SEC, so proving them wrong will be super fun for me.”
Interestingly enough, Kentucky’s got both of his former schools on the schedule, the Wildcats taking on the Aggies on January 14, followed by John Calipari and the Razorbacks on February 1 — both inside Rupp Arena.
He didn’t reveal which, but one of those teams is getting his best shot when conference play rolls around. It’s one of many games Robinson plans to win this season at Kentucky — his ultimate priority.
“I’ve got one game definitely circled on my calendar, for sure,” he told KSR. “It’s the same for any team, the whole schedule, we’re looking to win basketball games. That’s all that matters.”
Texas A&M still has the staff that recruited him out of high school while Arkansas is the game all of us have circled on our calendars — just for different reasons. That one will be personal for the Kentucky guard ready to prove he can be a star in the SEC.
