Robinson-Earl making jump for ‘Cats
In early April, after being named Big East Freshman of the Year and Big 5 Rookie of the Year, Villanova’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl decided to test the NBA waters.
A week later, though, with the draft process up in the air including the date of the NBA Draft because the league was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, the 6-9 forward decided to return to the Main Line for his sophomore season.
The Wildcats are glad that he did.
After two games, it is abundantly clear that Robinson-Earl has taken over the role of go-to guy that opened up when forward Saddiq Bey decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility to remain in the NBA Draft where he was taken 19th by the Brooklyn Nets and then sent to the Detroit Pistons in a trade.
Robinson-Earl poured in a career-high 28 points, pulled down eighth rebounds and earned tournament MVP honors as the thirdranked Wildcats topped No. 16 Arizona State, 83-74, late Thursday night to win the 2K Empire Classic at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Through two games, RobinsonEarl is averaging 23 points, nine rebounds and is shooting 64.5 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
“I think last year he wanted to be in that role and he just wasn’t there yet and he understood that,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “He did all the dirty work last year. He still does the dirty work, but I think he has developed. He spent a lot of time on his own. We couldn’t work with him a lot in the offseason. He spent a lot of time on his own developing his jump shot and I do think he’s ready to be a go-to guy.”
In Wednesday’s 76-67 victory over Boston College, RobinsonEarl overcame early foul trouble to finish with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 14 of his points in the second half and helped the Wildcats erase a nine-point deficit gainst the Sun Devils, Robin
son-Earl got going early.
He hit six of his first 10 shots from the field and had 13 points as the Wildcats built a 41-32 lead at the break. And he kept going. Robinson-Earl finished 11-for-17 from the field and displayed a wide variety of offensive moves, including a deadly mid-range game.
Six of his 11 baskets Thursday came on jumpers including a pair of three
pointers. He was 2-for-4 from deep. Four of his nine buckets against Boston College came on jumpers.
“I felt like that was part of my game I needed to work on was shooting,” Robinson-Earl said. “I spent a lot of time over the summer getting a lot of shots up and just being comfortable in all positions on the court so when I had the opportunity to catch and shoot I was able to knock those shots down.”
And when the Sun Devils got in his face, Robinson-Earl put the ball on the
floor and went to the basket. He also showed off a variety of low-post moves.
“Robinson-Earl was a big problem for us today,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “He’s showed why he’s one of the best forwards in the country.”
That’s not the only part of Robinson-Earl’s game at impressed Hurley.
“Defensively, he was switching onto our guys who had it going the most,” Hurley said. “He was on (Josh) Christopher in the first half and he was on (Alonzo) Verge. He was ex
pending all kinds of energy guarding those guys and doing a really good job. And then he was one of the key focal points on offense. That guy is a heck of an allaround player.”
NOTES » S ophomor e guard Justin Moore was named to the all-tournament team after recording the first double-double of his career with 16
points and a career-high 12 rebounds … The Wildcats have had a lot of success in November tournaments. It’s the sixth time in the last seven years Villanova came home with a tourney crown in November … The Wildcats open the home portion of their season Monday against Saint Joseph’s at the Finneran Pavilion (5
p.m.). Villanova has won seven in a row against the Hawks and Wright is 14-4 against SJU … Thursday’s game against Temple has been postponed after the Owls had to shut down for two weeks following a positive COVID test. No word on whether that game will be rescheduled or if Villanova will try to find a replacement.