Western Kentucky Basketball: Mitchell Robinson expected to return

Mitchell Robinson was a big grab for Western Kentucky. Then he was gone. Now, he might be back.

For Western Kentucky Basketball and their prodigal recruit Mitchell Robinson, a strange journey might end up exactly where it started. It doesn’t change the fact that the system that took Robinson on this ride is a bit flawed.

It all started with five-star recruit Mitchell Robinson. The McDonald’s All-American was considered one of the best recruits in the country. He is seven feet tall. He was seen as one of those players who would likely spend a single year at the collegiate level before jumping to the NBA the moment he became draft eligible.

In such a mindset, a recruit has to ask how to spend their time best. The options are rather limited and come down to going to school or playing professionally overseas. Brandon Jennings went to Italy and Emmanuel Mudiay went to China, but foreign teams are a little wary of a player that will not get to use beyond one year.

More from Conference USA

Instead, Robinson decided to go to school. But which school? For Robinson, it probably did not matter all that much. He ended up committing to Rick Stansbury at Western Kentucky. That wasn’t that surprising since Robinson had previously committed to Stansbury when the former was an assistant at Texas A&M. However, Stansbury also hired Robinson’s godfather and former North Carolina Tar Heel star Shammond Williams to his coaching staff in 2016, which might have made Robinson’s decision easier.

Williams’ resignation in July seems to have had some sort of effect on Robinson. Robinson had enrolled in classes and attended a team practice, but decided to leave Western Kentucky and do something else. The problem was that he was too late. As a class attending student, Robinson was no longer free to sign somewhere else. He now became a transfer if he wanted to go somewhere else. Since he was not going to stick with a new program beyond that transfer year, he might as well not go anywhere.

Enes Kanter was once ruled ineligible to play at Kentucky, but he still practiced and worked out with the team. It is unlikely another coach would have used up a scholarship spot just so Robinson could work with the team and then disappear with no benefit other than generosity.

So Robinson was going to just wait out his year before the NBA Draft process fired up. He’d work out, but organizing those activities would be up to him or someone he would have to pay. He’d miss out on a year of growing his game and getting some recognition on television for scouts.

In the end, Robinson seems to have decided that a year of organized basketball is better than a year without. The only way it would happen was if he came back to Western Kentucky. That means re-enrolling and rejoining the only college team he could play for according to reports from Chad Bishop of WBKO.

Next: What Jahvon Quinerly Means For Arizona

Robinson’s tale seems to be a precautionary one for all recruits. Make sure you know what you want before you make a choice that you might not be able to reverse.