Jaxson Robinson led Kentucky in scoring during Wednesday night’s dominant 123-52 exhibition win over Kentucky Wesleyan. The fifth-year guard finished with 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including a 5-9 clip from long range in just 22 minutes of run. At least through one easy preseason game, Robinson looked every bit like the guy fans expected when he followed Mark Pope to Lexington from BYU.
So it doesn’t come as much of a shock to learn that Robinson is considered one of the country’s best players. On Thursday morning, the CBS Sports trio of Kyle Boone, Gary Parrish, and Matt Norlander released their Top 101 players going into the 2024-25 season. Checking in at No. 33 was Jaxson Robinson.
“Mark Pope brought with him a flamethrower from BYU to Kentucky in his jump from the Cougars to the ‘Cats in Robinson, who last season won Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year after shooting 35.4% from 3-point range and averaging 14.2 points,” Boone wrote. “He steps into a new situation in Lexington where he’ll be called upon as a go-to scoring option in an offensive system that plays to his strengths emphasizing his skills as a shooter and spacer. There will be plenty of co-stars in UK’s system this season given the prioritization of spacing and sharing but he should be the leading candidate to benefit most.”
Boone likely wrote that excerpt prior to Kentucky’s impressive showing — but he didn’t tell a single lie. Robinson was the Wildcats’ go-to scorer and was allowed ultimate freedom to get his shots up. As the lone guy on the roster with experience playing under Pope, what we saw against Kentucky Wesleyan is exactly what we expect to see all season long.
Robinson was the only Kentucky player to crack CBS Sports’ list, but he’s not the only familiar face. There are plenty of Top 101 players who either played at UK before or will face the Wildcats at some point this season.
