Robinson a big reason Huskies turned it around
Basketball team went 7-1 when guard out of California returned from foot injury
J.T. Robinson has mastered the art of feet and hands.
He’s done it through basketball, though, not tae kwon do.
Although his dad is a former world heavyweight tae kwon do champion, Robinson chose a different path while growing up in Vallejo, California.
Instead of kicking and punching his way through the world of sport, Robinson is dribbling, zigzagging, shooting and scoring for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, who play host to the University of Victoria Vikes in a one-game Canada West conference playoff Friday night.
Game time is 7 p.m. at the Physical Activity Complex on the U of S campus.
“I didn’t really take it (tae kwon do) too far,” says Robinson, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound guard.
“When I was little, my dad had me training with him for a little while. He was big on that but I was mostly a ball — basketball and football — guy.”
Robinson joined the Huskies from the College of Marin, a junior college in the greater San Francisco area. Despite being a muchanticipated addition, Robinson broke his foot before the start of the Canada West season and was sidelined for the entire first half.
“It was definitely frustrating,” Robinson says. “I was looking forward to it, especially coming up here from California, and then I got hurt one week before the first game.”
Since Robinson’s return, the Huskies have seven wins and just one loss. Robinson has averaged 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game during that span, while shooting 43 per cent from the floor, including three-point range. He has helped salvage a season for a team that rebounded from an eight-game losing streak to make the playoffs.
“It’s definitely exciting, especially considering where we came from and myself coming off a longterm injury,” Robinson says. “Being in the playoffs is good for us.”
Robinson has been good — real good — for the Huskies.
“His scoresheet doesn’t tell his true value,” points out U of S head coach Barry Rawlyk, whose team finished the regular season with a 10-10 record. “Defensively, he’s made us a lot better. Just his wherewithal in the game and stuff like that, the tenor of the game, it feels like we’re a lot more steady with him in the game.
“He’s an extremely welcome addition.”
Rawlyk says there were postsurgery complications, including an infection (“one bad thing after another”) that delayed Robinson’s debut.
It’s been well worth the wait. Joining the likes of Lawrence Moore, Alex Unruh and Emmanuel Akintunde, Robinson has helped give the Dogs a more balanced attack.
“We knew he was a very good player, but I think the best is yet to come from him,” Rawlyk says. “He’s been sitting out for several months. As time goes along here, he’s going to get nothing but better.”
BARKER OUT
The Huskies are expected to be without their top rebounder, Joseph Barker, against Victoria.
Barker, wearing a walking boot, is out with an ankle injury. It’s just the latest in a long list of injury setbacks for the Huskies.
“We’ve been really snake-bitten all season,” admits Rawlyk, whose team has coped with the loss of Chan De Ciman for the season as well as numerous short-term injuries, including a previous one to Barker in October.
“He (Barker) is a big piece. He’s been one of our top players all year. (The injury) is the latest of a long string.”