We saw Michigan earlier this year and they have a player that transferred in named Duncan Robinson... A 6-8 210lb forward that came from a small Division III school in Massachusetts. Though I don't cheer for Michigan, I am a sucker for a good human interest story so I thought I would share it.
Robinson went to HS in New Hampshire then attended Williams College.. Those northeastern states get pretty close together up there so even though Williams is in Massachusetts, it was not far from home... Their coach, Mike Maker, was very successful at that level as he has a couple of national championship appearances with Williams.. Williams College has been consistently rated as either the top or one of the top 4 year schools in the nation by various publications that rate schools. Very selective as they only accept 1 out of every 5 kids who apply to the school. . Lots of professors with teaching awards... Anyways, it was good for every reason for Williams to get Robinson but then his coach, Mike Maker, got offered a position with a small D1 school, Marist. Robinson thought about this and explored options to play at a higher level of basketball than Williams. KEY THING: Maker was an assistant coach for John Beilein at West Virginia. Maker knew that Robinson wanted to compete at the highest level so Maker made a phone call to Beilein to ask if he might be interested in Robinson. Robinson was not a malcontent, just wanted to try his talents against better competition. Robinson was a 6-8 forward that could shoot(17. 3 points a game, over 50% from the field and 45% from 3 point land at Williams.) so that is pretty attractive to a lot of schools. Beilein was eager to bring him in as he had a great relationship with Maker and knew Maker would not try to steer him wrong on a kid.
I guess I can separate cheering for a kid on an opposing team vs. cheer for that team.. Robinson is an interesting story to me. I understand Beilein and Maker are pretty high integrity guys though certainly not perfect. A good story and a kid who I would love to see succeed on the court.
Robinson went to HS in New Hampshire then attended Williams College.. Those northeastern states get pretty close together up there so even though Williams is in Massachusetts, it was not far from home... Their coach, Mike Maker, was very successful at that level as he has a couple of national championship appearances with Williams.. Williams College has been consistently rated as either the top or one of the top 4 year schools in the nation by various publications that rate schools. Very selective as they only accept 1 out of every 5 kids who apply to the school. . Lots of professors with teaching awards... Anyways, it was good for every reason for Williams to get Robinson but then his coach, Mike Maker, got offered a position with a small D1 school, Marist. Robinson thought about this and explored options to play at a higher level of basketball than Williams. KEY THING: Maker was an assistant coach for John Beilein at West Virginia. Maker knew that Robinson wanted to compete at the highest level so Maker made a phone call to Beilein to ask if he might be interested in Robinson. Robinson was not a malcontent, just wanted to try his talents against better competition. Robinson was a 6-8 forward that could shoot(17. 3 points a game, over 50% from the field and 45% from 3 point land at Williams.) so that is pretty attractive to a lot of schools. Beilein was eager to bring him in as he had a great relationship with Maker and knew Maker would not try to steer him wrong on a kid.
I guess I can separate cheering for a kid on an opposing team vs. cheer for that team.. Robinson is an interesting story to me. I understand Beilein and Maker are pretty high integrity guys though certainly not perfect. A good story and a kid who I would love to see succeed on the court.
