Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope and his team arguably splashed their biggest transfer of the offseason on Thursday afternoon in BYU guard Jaxson Robinson.
Robinson played for Pope and BYU during his junior and senior seasons but had two stops before that, playing at Texas A&M his freshman year and Arkansas his sophomore year.
Standing at 6-feet, 7-inches tall, Robinson averaged 14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists last season through 33 games played while sinking 42.6% of his shots from the field and 35.4% of his shots from long range.
The Ada, Oklahoma, native entered the transfer portal earlier on and was faced with the tough decision of returning to college or officially entering his name into the NBA Draft, with his decision not announced on the night of the deadline — when players are supposed to make their final decisions — leaving the college basketball world pondering on where the highly-touted transfer would end up.
Although Robinson proved himself on the hardwood, he was only part of the starting five in six of the contests he played in as he came off of the bench in the rest, similar to last season’s UK standouts Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard. Due to his level of play, Robinson received the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Award.
Robinson’s best performance came on Dec. 13 when he hammered 28 points, two rebounds and four assists on the Denver Pioneers on BYU’s home court.
Robinson joins a team highlighted by eight transfers and three freshmen, two of which are Kentucky natives, with one scholarship left to fill on the Wildcats’ roster.
