New Kentucky head coach Mark Pope‘s leading scorer from a season ago at BYU is following him to Lexington.
BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and has signed with Kentucky.
“Jaxson Robinson has been one of the most improved players in the country for two straight years and is barely scratching the surface of his potential,” Pope said via press release. “His growth trajectory is incredible. He is an elite level shooter, is increasingly dangerous off the bounce and at the rim and has the potential to become a big-time playmaker. Jaxson guards with length and balance and understands how important it is to build strong relationships with his teammates. On a personal level, I’m so excited I get to finish his college journey with him in pursuit of Kentucky’s ninth national championship.”
Robinson, a 6-foot-7 guard, the 2023-24 Big 12 sixth man of the year, has one year of college eligibility remaining.
A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Robinson signed with Texas A&M as a four-star prospect in the class of 2020. He played in 14 games and made four starts for the Aggies and averaged 2.1 points per game and 1.1 rebounds in an average of 9.8 minutes per game.
Ahead of the 2021-22 season, Robinson entered the transfer portal and landed with Eric Musselman at Arkansas. In his lone season with the Razorbacks, he played in 16 games and made four starts averaging 10.2 minutes per game. He averaged 3.4 points per game, 1.3 rebounds, shot 38.0 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three.
After one season with the Hogs, he re-entered the portal and landed with Pope at BYU.
In his debut season of 2022-23 with the Cougars, Robinson played in all 33 games, started 30 and averaged 28.1 minutes of playing time. He averaged 8.5 points per game with 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three.
This past season was his best yet.
Robinson won Big 12 sixth-man of the year honors as he started just six games yet averaged 26.4 minutes of playing time in which he led the team averaging 14.2 points per game, shot 42.6 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from three and 90.8 percent from the free throw line. He added 2.5 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists.
The 6-foot-7 guard scored a season-high 28 points in a win over Denver, went for 25 points while shooting 5-for-11 in the Cougars NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne, and had 18 points while shooting 4-for-9 from three in the team’s upset road win over then-ranked No. 7 Kansas.
He is the transfer portal’s 36th best player per 247sports transfer rankings and eighth best small forward.
Robinson is Kentucky’s ninth transfer portal addition of the offseason joining Amari Williams (Drexel), Lamont Butler (San Diego State), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest), Brandon Garrison (Oklahoma State), Koby Brea (Dayton) Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia) and Ansley Almonor (Fairleigh Dickinson) while UK also has signed three incoming freshmen in Travis Perry, Collin Chandler and Trent Noah.
