Robinson prepared to bust out for BC
Boston College guard Jerome Robinson has adopted an NBA regimen to become a dominant collegiate player in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound junior from Raleigh, N.C., took his game to Santa Monica, Calif., last summer. Robinson spent seven weeks enrolled at Integrity Hoops, an offseason personal development program for college, NBA GLeague and NBA players.
“They were awesome (weeks),” said Robinson. “It was pretty much wake up at 7 a.m. and be in the gym by 8 and we were doing a lot of different stuff like weight lifting and working out with pros and pre-draft guys.
“It was just a good program to be out there and being able to focus and tune in on my game. You had to get used to it because I didn’t shoot any college 3’s or use any college balls. It was all NBA stuff, so it was an adult experience to play with those guys every day and compete with them.”
Robinson was already a player of interest in the ACC before his sojourn to the Pacific. He was an AllACC honorable mention last season and the only BC player to start all 32 games.
Robinson averaged 18.7 points per game and 17.4 in the ACC, good for fourth place. He also contributed 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in all games, and 3.0 boards and 3.4 dishes in the ACC.
Robinson’s status was upgraded on Oct. 26 to All-ACC preseason second team. BC coach Jim Christian immediately observed the positive changes to Robinson’s approach to practices and scrimmages.
“I think he’s (gotten) more of an appreciation of how hard it is to be a really good player,” said Christian following yesterday’s practice at Power Gym. “The daily grind, the understanding of how to take care of your body and how to grow your game, and the attention to detail that you really need.
“That is stuff that we preach, but sometimes it is good to see somebody else go through it. I think that and the NBA AllStar camps where you go against and hear and talk to other players similar to you and see if you can kind of learn something from these guys as well.”
Robinson was joined in Santa Monica for two weeks by his BC backcourt mate Ky Bowman. The energetic sophomore guard played in 32 games last season (29 starts) and averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 18 ACC contests.
Many ACC insiders believe Robinson and Bowman are the top backcourt tandem in the league. Their shared experience at Integrity Hoops further fueled their desire to be an elite backcourt in a Power 5 conference.
“In the summer we got to work out together in California and it’s been awesome playing with him,” said Robinson. “I know when he wants the ball and when he needs to get his shots and the different ways he needs to score.
“Me knowing how he plays, I know that I can help him make it easier for himself and he can do the same for me. It’s going to be fun this year.”
The Robinson-Bowman backcourt will help facilitate the improvements Christian has made on the wing and in the paint. The plan is to improve on last year’s 2-16 record in conference play and make a run in the ACC tournament. BC opens the season against Maine next Friday at Conte Forum.