Western Kentucky Basketball: 2017 Mitchell Robinson commits to Rick Stansbury

In one of the shockers of the offseason, 2017 five-star recruit Mitchell Robinson committed to Western Kentucky basketball on Wednesday.

It’s almost a rarity to find a five-star recruit, ranked in the top-15 of ESPN’s top 100, that opts to play his college basketball for a mid-major program.

But that’s exactly what 2017 center Mitchell Robinson did on Wednesday afternoon, as the big man committed to Western Kentucky.

Robinson was originally committed to Texas A&M, but following the departure of assistant coach Rick Stansbury (who is now the head man at Western Kentucky), the Louisiana native decided to re-open his recruitment.

Robinson clearly felt comfortable with the familiarity he had with Stansbury, and also the fact that his godfather, Shammond Williams, is an assistant with the Hilltoppers.

With Malik Newman failing to live up to the one-and-done expectations at Mississippi State and Ben Simmons failing to make the NCAA Tournament at LSU, there was a thought that future top recruits would opt to play at the best school possible in order to increase their exposure and opportunity to play on the biggest stage.

Winning cures everything after all, and players that perform well in the NCAA Tournament are able to strike while their stock is hot (cough…Malachi Richardson…cough).

More from Busting Brackets

Robinson has the potential to be an NBA player down the road. He is long, has good athleticism, has a solid frame, has terrific hands, and maintains great timing and instincts around the rim. The center has a developing offensive game, as his post moves are very raw and at times, ineffective.

Regardless of his skills and physical tools, playing in the Conference USA obviously hurts Robinson’s ability to be a one-and-done prospect. The Hilltoppers won’t be featured on television nationally like the other schools that were recruiting Robinson (A&M, LSU, Georgia), and even if they make the Big Dance, they are likely to receive a low seed that puts them in a tough position in an opening round game.

Ultimately, Robinson’s best hope is for the Hilltoppers to find him a solid supporting cast – having great players around you only makes you better – but again, that will be difficult to achieve at the mid-major level.

The Hilltoppers do have Stansbury though and reeling in any top-100 recruit is a coup for a team in the Conference USA. Stansbury does an excellent job relating to his players and making them feel comfortable on the recruiting trail. At Mississippi, he wasn’t always able to translate talent into wins, however, recruiting is truly his forte.

Western Kentucky is in the mix for Malik Newman (although Kansas is viewed as the front runner) and 2017 top-100 small forward Galen Alexander has the Hilltoppers in his final seven.

Robinson could always change his mind and re-open his recruitment for a third try if the Hilltoppers aren’t able to surround him with legit talent. So that means Stansbury cannot sit back with his feet up, as this could be the start of something terrific for Western Kentucky’s program.

Next: Summer top 25

But it could also backfire with a possible future NBA player taking a major fall, similar to what happened with Newman this year.