Jaxson Robinson has played his last game in a Kentucky uniform.
Kentucky men’s basketball Head Coach Mark Pope confirmed the news following No. 17 UK’s 94-78 loss to No. 1 Auburn in Rupp Arena.
“Jax, we came to the final conclusion last night, he’s going to get surgery,” Pope said. “He’s going Wednesday to the specialist to have surgery on his wrist. He’ll be good to go the first of June, end of May, and continue with his basketball career.”
Pope confirmed that Robinson has a torn sheath on his ECU tendon. The ECU tendon, short for Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, is a tendon in the wrist on the pinky finger side of the hand. It is important for wrist mobility, extension and bending.
“What’s happening is its slipping out and, when he went down, we kind of knew that he was going to need surgery,” Pope said. “He just wanted so badly to play that we rehabbed it and had an injection to try and make it functional. He was doing okay and then he went down the first half at Oklahoma and it actually rotated a little more and there’s no way he’s going to be able to play.”
Pope felt confident that Robinson, an NBA draft prospect, will be able to make a full recovery, but it ultimately will not matter for this year’s Kentucky team.
“The good news is that he’ll go have the surgery with the world’s number one surgeon doing this particular procedure and it’s three months to 100% recovery,” he said.
With Kentucky having just two regular season games before the SEC Tournament and March Madness season, Robinson’s timing will ensure he does not play for the remainder of the season.
Robinson, a fifth-year senior, came to Kentucky after opting to forgo the 2024 NBA draft to follow his coach, Pope, to Lexington.
A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Robinson began his college career at Texas A&M in 2020, averaging 2.1 points per game and 0.3 assists. He would enter the transfer portal at the end of the season and stay in conference, playing for former Arkansas Head Coach Eric Musselman.
With the Hogs, his numbers would go up slightly but not significantly, leading Robinson to once again enter the portal and join Pope at BYU.
It was in Provo that Robinson would truly blossom into a star, staying for two seasons and, as a senior, averaging 14.2 points, 1.3 assists and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 42.6% from the field in his 33 games played.
Robinson received NBA interest and heavily considered declaring for the draft, but ultimately decided to follow Pope to UK where he has averaged 13 points, 1.7 assists and 0.6 steals per game, making 24 starts in 24 games and increasing his field goal percentage.
He was primed to be one of the biggest impact players on the roster, putting together a few big showings such as his 27-point game in Kentucky’s win at Mississippi State and 22 and 20 point showings against his former schools Texas A&M (win) and Arkansas (loss).
Having issues with his wrist, Robinson would be put on the injured list prior to Kentucky’s home game versus Tennessee on Feb. 11.
He would remain out until he started against Oklahoma, where he was only able to play in the first half before spending the remainder of the contest on the bench with his wrist wrapped and iced.
Unfortunately for a Kentucky team that has struggled with injuries all year outside of just Robinson — Andrew Carr, Kerr Kriisa, Amari Williams and Lamont Butler have all had varying degrees of injury concerns — Robinson’s season-ending surgery is just the latest heartbreak in a lengthy string of disappointments.
