Jeremiah Robinson-Earl leads Villanova Basketball to victory over Winthrop

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

There is no doubt that losing starting point guard Collin Gillespie was going to decrease the effectiveness of the Wildcats’ offense. What seems to have been forgotten among those predicting a first-round exit is that the Wildcats still have a legitimate star in Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

One reason for this may be due to the fact that when the point-guard is your best player, the ball is guaranteed to be in his hands, whereas a post player has to get the ball passed to him. Robinson-Earl by no means in your typical “big man”, a fact that is obvious by his gameplay.

Versus Winthrop, Robinson-Earl demonstrated that he can post up smaller defenders, take bigger defenders off the dribble, and draw any rim protected to the perimeter as he is a threat to hit not only a mid-range jumper but from beyond the arc. A team with Robinson-Earl as their primary scoring option is without a doubt a competitive team.

It will take a complete team effort for the Wildcats to go toe-to-toe with the like of Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen, but the versatility of the co-Player of the Year will allow the Wildcats to continue what they have been doing all season, despite losing another one of the Co-Player of the Year winners.