Devin Robinson Flourishing in Spotlight

Florida Gators forward Devin Robinson picked a great time to tie a career high in scoring.

With the Gators fighting to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament, Robinson scored 24 points to help lead the Gators to an 80-65 win over East Tennessee State on Thursday.

“He was a big factor,” teammate Kevarrius Hayes said. “We always love his hustle. Everybody has those nights and I’m just glad he had one. He is probably right there with one of the hardest playing people we have on the team so I feel like tonight was his night to shine.”

Robinson paced the Gators in scoring throughout the game, coming out of the gate to throw down several highlight-reel dunks and set the tone offensively. He scored eight of his 10 first half points within the first five minutes of the game.

“My teammates just found me,” Robinson said. “I just came out here and I knew that we had to win or go home so my teammates found me in the right positions and it gave me the confidence to just let the ball fly.”

East Tennessee State never seriously threatened the Gators in the game. The Bucs grabbed their first lead of the game to begin the second half, but the Gators responded and opened up a 16-point lead to seal a trip to the next round against Virginia tomorrow.

The Gators entered the tournament with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, having lost three out of their last four games. Many around the country projected East Tennessee State to knock off Florida in the first round as the No. 13 seed.

As is the case each March, college basketball fans around the country are constantly looking for a potential upset. With the Gators playing inconsistently toward the end of the season, many believed they were a possible candidate to suffer a defeat.

The Gators were aware of the outside chatter and were happy to play “spoiler” as the higher seed.

“We heard on ESPN and all of the other bracketology type stuff that we were going to be the first upset,” Robinson said. “That put a chip on our shoulder. We knew we just had to come out here and prove everybody wrong once again. That put everything into perspective and we knew that we just had to take care of business.”

Playing in the national spotlight, Robinson surely didn’t disappoint in his first tournament game. He looked to be the best player on the court for most of the game, and gave fans watching at home a great look at why he’s a likely draft pick come June.

Robinson withdrew his name from draft consideration last year and opted to come back to school for his junior year. While his averages of 10.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and one steal per game don’t necessarily jump off of the page, he has improved in each year at Florida.

Perhaps the biggest area of his game that has improved is his shooting. His three-point percentages have increased in each year. He shot just 25.6 percent his freshman year but improved to 34 percent in his sophomore year and 38.9 percent this year. He was 21st among all players in the SEC in three-point shooting.

With the Gators up by just one early in the second half, Robinson knocked down three-point shots on consecutive trips down the floor to help extend the lead to seven points and put the Gators up for good. He finished 2-of-5 from three-point range.

Improving his shooting has been a point of emphasis over the past few summers.

“[Shooting] was a big priority of mine,” Robinson said. “It actually got better this past summer when I was injured. I just focused more on my form and just put more arch on the ball and just being more comfortable with where I am as a player and my shot. My guys out here are finding me so that just helps me 10 times more.”

Listed at 6-foot-8, Robinson appears to fit the standard for a big man in today’s NBA. He flashed a little bit of everything yesterday against East Tennessee State and was efficient in doing so. He has great athleticism for his size and is a capable defender.

“When he wants to, he runs like a deer,” head coach Mike White said. “When he’s in space, he’s got the ability to get his feet set and make jumpers, and he can really straight line-drive it, of course. He can take off before physicality and explode to the rim. He’s a really talented guy.”

Robinson entered the tournament ranked eighth in DraftExpress’ juniors rankings and is projected to be drafted No. 41 in the second round. Of course, many prospects have helped improve their draft stock the deeper their team plays into the tournament.

While a decision beyond this season likely hasn’t been made yet, it doesn’t sound crazy to think Robinson could enter his name for draft consideration this year. If the Gators can go on a run in the tournament, and Robinson can continue to shine in the spotlight, we just might see his name called in the first round.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.