Profiles in Hope: Gerald Robinson

(from Connor Nolte's Passer'sRemorse.com)

During the off season, I frequently used my typical joke about Georgia basketball. "We're only two players away...Shaq and Kobe." Actually, now that I think about it...that might be an adaptation of a very old Dantzler line from Harrick's first season.

In reality, we're probably not two players away from being a tourney team right now. The wins over ranked Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Georgia Tech (plus an Illinois team that will likely be ranked by tonight) show this team in its current construction can beat anyone on any given night. The painfully close losses at Kentucky, at Mississippi State and at home vs. Arkansas and Ole Miss further reinforce that we could be much closer than I anticipated.

Maybe we're only one player away. Maybe that player is an experienced ball handling handling guard who can create his own shot, break the press and perform under pressure. Fox thinks we've got that guy now in Gerald Robinson, transfer from Tennessee State.

In an interview last week with UGASports.com he said this about Gerald Robinson:

"For instance if we had Gerald Robinson and he did not have to sit out we would have five, six or seven more wins," Fox said. "That's a lot to put on one kid, but we've had a lot of single possession or two possession outcomes where an experienced, a guard with some quickness and some athleticism , the ability to score and break down a defense, would make a huge difference in our team, but the reality is we don't have him for another year."

Robinson, who started both his years at Tennessee State, averaged 15.2 points as a freshman and 17.8 as a sophomore, going over the 1,000-point mark in his season finale at the school.

He led the Tigers in every major statistical category his sophomore season.

How good is Robinson? The scuttlebutt around the program preseason suggested that he was the second best player on the roster. Even today, the rumblings and whispers are all extremely positive.

Here are some of his stats against BCS opposition while at Tennessee State:

Freshman Year:
at Georgia Tech: 24 pts / 3 steals (his 2nd college basketball game)
at Indiana: 7 pts and 3 steals
at Vandy: 24 pts and 5 rebounds
at Illinois: 9 pts and 2 steals (TTU won this game)

Sophomore Year:
at Alabama: 15 pts, 7 rebounds and 5 steals
at Kentucky: 25 pts, 5 rebounds and 3 steals
at Georgia Tech: 16 pts and 5 assists

Additionally, he'll have the advantage of practicing the Triangle Offense for a year and getting familiar with SEC opposition via his role as The Leading Scorer for the "Best Scout Team in America(TM)...according to walk-on Connor Nolte.

We just need Trey to do the right thing this off season and stick around for his junior year.



As for this season...if the Dawgs are ever going to figure how to win a game on the road in the SEC, it should be at Auburn on Wednesday night. The Tigers aren't a very good team, and their fans are passionately ambivalent towards their b-ball program. Win on the plains and we have a chance to take three in a row with the Gamecocks coming to town on Saturday.

See Also:
-- Dawgs will be tough out in the SEC Tourney - Legge
-- Fox ranks among the SEC's Best - Ching

PWD

*Note the videos don't support my thesis that he's going to help us next year. They are just cool. For more gameday trick shot videos, follow Connor Nolte on Twitter.