Former BYU standout Jaxson Robinson withdraws from NBA draft and commits to Kentucky
Jaxson Robinson, the leading scorer from last season’s BYU men’s basketball team, is now a Kentucky Wildcat.
On Thursday, it was announced that Robinson — who is about to enter his fifth season of college basketball — would withdraw from the NBA draft and follow head coach Mark Pope from BYU to UK.
ESPN first reported Robinson’s withdrawal from the draft and his decision to transfer to UK.
On Friday night, UK officially announced Robinson’s addition to the 2023-24 roster.
Robinson initially declared for the 2024 NBA draft on April 23, before entering the NCAA transfer portal on April 27. He took part in the 2024 NBA draft combine, which took place May 12-19 in Chicago.
A 6-foot-7, 190-pound guard who previously played one season each at Texas A&M and Arkansas, Robinson played the last two seasons under Pope at BYU.
“I mean, all I want to do is win. It doesn’t matter where I’m at,” Robinson said at the draft combine. “Even today at the combine — my team got a great win today. I think we showed we were the better team. We all played unselfishly. Everybody ate. It just feels good when everybody’s winning. … So just being willing to do whatever it takes to win the ballgame — that’s all that has mattered to me since I’ve been playing basketball.”
Robinson led BYU in scoring last season (with a career-best 14.2 points per game) and shot 42.6% from the field, 90.8% from the foul line and 35.4% from 3-point range. He played in 33 games last season for the Cougars, mainly in a bench role, and averaged 26.5 minutes played per contest.
He boasted a true shooting percentage of 56.3 and was a key part of an offensive unit that ranked 14th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
The 21-year-old Robinson was the 2024 Big 12 Conference Sixth Man of the Year.
When speaking to the Herald-Leader at the draft combine, Robinson spoke highly of Pope and new UK assistant coach Cody Fueger, who also made the move from BYU to Kentucky.
“Just being here at the combine, some of the plays that we ran today, I’ve just known from being at BYU. Coach Pope and Coach Fueger taught us those plays, and it was similar to what we ran,” Robinson said. “It really helps just knowing that I have some knowledge coming from college, moving forward and transitioning into the NBA and this combine.”
Pope and another new Kentucky assistant coach, Alvin Brooks III, both watched Robinson at the draft combine.
According to college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa, Robinson ranks as the No. 89 overall transfer portal player, as of Thursday afternoon.
“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 in the Kentucky news release announcing the addition of Robinson.
“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.”
In the 2022-23 season at BYU, Robinson played in 33 games with 30 starts. He averaged more than eight points per game during his first season in Provo. Robinson scored 10 or more points in 41 of his 66 games played at BYU.
Robinson, who is listed as the No. 66 overall prospect in ESPN’s NBA draft rankings, was initially a four-star recruit out of Ada High School in Oklahoma as part of the 2020 recruiting class.
Robinson reclassified from the 2021 to the 2020 recruiting group before beginning his college career at Texas A&M. He never played against Kentucky while at Texas A&M or Arkansas, his second college stop.
In total, Robinson has played in 96 college basketball games and has made 44 college starts.
Robinson’s arrival in Lexington should provide scoring punch to a Kentucky roster that is being completely rebuilt by Pope this offseason.
Pope has already added the following players to the 2024-25 Kentucky basketball roster, his first as UK’s head coach:
First-year guards Collin Chandler, Trent Noah and Travis Perry, third-year guard Otega Oweh (formerly of Oklahoma), fourth-year forward Ansley Almonor (formerly of Fairleigh Dickinson), fifth-year guards Koby Brea (formerly of Dayton), Lamont Butler (formerly of San Diego State) and Kerr Kriisa (formerly of Arizona and West Virginia), fifth-year forwards Amari Williams (formerly of Drexel) and Andrew Carr (formerly of Delaware and Wake Forest) and second-year center Brandon Garrison (formerly of Oklahoma State).
Robinson fills the 12th of 13 scholarship spots that Pope has to work with for next season’s Kentucky team.
Robinson’s commitment comes after another high-scoring Kentucky transfer portal target — former North Florida guard Chaz Lanier — opted to transfer to Tennessee, despite also taking recruiting visits to BYU and UK.
MARK POPE BUILDS FIRST KENTUCKY BASKETBALL ROSTER
Pope is, essentially, constructing his first UK basketball roster from scratch.
Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State), Jordan Burks (Georgetown), Joey Hart (Ball State), Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas), Adou Thiero (Arkansas) and D.J. Wagner (Arkansas) are players from the 2023-24 Kentucky squad that will transfer to new schools. Additionally, Ugonna Onyenso is still in the NCAA transfer portal.
Onyenso withdrew from the 2024 NBA draft this week.
Also from last season’s team, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, and Reed Sheppard have declared for the 2024 NBA draft. Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves have exhausted their college eligibility.
May 1 was the deadline for college basketball players (including graduate transfers) to enter the transfer portal.
The early-entry deadline for the 2024 NBA draft has also already passed. Players who entered the draft with remaining NCAA eligibility had until Wednesday to remove their names from consideration and return to school.
This is the process Robinson used on his way back to college basketball, and ultimately to Lexington.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
