UNC Basketball: Brandon Robinson can handle a starting role in 2019-20

UNC Basketball senior leader Brandon Robinson has largely been pigeonholed as a minor reserve for his first three years. Here’s why his senior year should be different.

Seven-point-eight. Eight-point-six. Eleven-point-nine.

Through three years at a campus where the sky is a different hue of blue, UNC Basketball’s Brandon Robinson has seen his game be defined by increments. Baby steps. Small changes in playing time, here and there, but nothing so drastic as to alter his spot in a North Carolina rotation where nothing is gained without a fight.

Minutes are earned, not given, and Robinson has spent his first three years stuck behind guards and wings whose importance to the team outweighed his, understandably so. Through no fault of his own, there was no reason for the lanky 6-foot-5 off-guard from Atlanta, Georgia, to outrank the likes of Joel Berry, Theo Pinson, Kenny Williams, Justin Jackson, Coby White, Cameron Johnson.

There was simply no room for Robinson in the Carolina backcourt, save for a routine change-of-pace role off the bench. A starting gig? Forget about it. Twenty minutes a game? With the depth and star power on that last trilogy of UNC teams? Not a chance.

But perhaps this is the year, with Robinson standing as the elder statesman of a new-look Carolina team that saw six of its top seven players — Coby White, Kenny Williams, Cameron Johnson, Luke Maye, Nassir Little, and Seventh Woods — leave in the offseason, that he can break through and establish himself as a meaningful contributor.

Off the court, Robinson understands where he’s needed. With four freshmen and two graduate transfers, there are plenty of fresh faces who must become acclimated with the goings on and off the court in Chapel Hill. For Robinson, he’s the one Roy Williams and co. expect to step up as a leader.

“Yeah, (coach Williams) has definitely challenged me to be more of a leader,” Robinson said following last month’s Late Night With Roy scrimmage. “But I’m just gonna lead in the way I know how. I’m not gonna try to be somebody that I’m not. I’m gonna keep pushing each and every day to be the best version of me and to help my teammates any way possible.”

Whether his newfound leadership role will manifest in an increased role is yet to be seen. Friday’s open exhibition against Winston-Salem State will pull back the curtain on what the 2019-20 opening lineup will be, and will give everyone a clearer idea of just how much Robinson’s on-court role will have changed in the course of one offseason. He’s hinted that he understands that his role will be different this year, but ultimately, he says, it’s up to Williams to determine what exactly that means.

There is an opening, however. The foundation of the starting lineup is largely set, with five-star freshman and projected top pick Cole Anthony largely expected to step in as the team’s offensive engine at the point guard spot, with the frontcourt being filled by five-star center Armando Bacot and returning starter Garrison Brooks. Beyond those three, there is uncertainty.

While coach Williams is likely to lean heavily on his star freshman and a rejuvenated focus on a dual-post frontcourt, the two spots on the wing — vacated by Kenny Williams and Cameron Johnson — are still up for grabs.

Preseason rumblings and whispers hint that sophomore do-it-all wing Rechon “Leaky” Black, despite being emphasized as one of the team’s most important players, is slated to pick up backup point guard duties while simultaneously seeing time split up and down the lineup on a team that needs his height and length.

Such a coaching decision from Williams would then leave us with three upperclassmen vying for two rotation spots on the wing: the experienced Brandon Robinson, as well as the duo of graduate transfers, 6-foot-4 guard Christian Keeling and 6-foot-7 forward Justin Pierce. All three players bring different elements to the team, and they will all surely see significant time throughout the season.

There are pros and cons for however you piece the starting lineup together, but given the flashes we’ve seen from Robinson as he’s matured and improved over the years, he’s earned a spot in the starting lineup — and a larger on-ball role, too.