Road to Heat far from the norm for Robinson
Undrafted forward spent early college days in Division III.
MIAMI — Duncan Robinson went undrafted last month, but it didn’t take long for him to find an NBA home.
The sweet-shooting 6- foot -8 forward from Michigan signed a two-way contract with the Heat in the middle of an impressive summer league audition. Robinson averaged 12.3 points on 54.3 percent shooting, including 58.8 percent on threes.
Playing under a two-way contract means Robinson is expected to spend most of the season with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
Two-way contracts were introduced in the collective-bargaining agreement that took effect last year. Players don’t count against the salary cap and can’t be poached by other teams. They can spend up to 45 days with their NBA teams as long as they spend the rest of the time with the team’s developmental affiliate.
Here are five things to know about Robinson ...
1. He took a unique path to get to the Heat. Coming out of Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy in 2013, he didn’t receive any Division I offers. He chose to start his collegiate career at Division III Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., over a scholarship offer from Division II Merrimack College. After playing one season at Williams (averaging 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds), Robinson transferred to Michigan before the 2014-15 season. “He didn’t have any offers, but he picked Williams because he really wanted to go to there,” Jay Tilton, Robinson’s high school coach, told MLive. “Am I surprised at the success he ended up having there? No. No one has more passion for the game than Duncan.” Robinson now has a chance to become the first Division III player to play in the NBA since Devean George, who last played in 2010. 2.
In his one season at Williams, Robinson made quite the impression ... and not just on the court. Before road games, he made sure to carry trainer Lisa Wilk’s heavy bag of supplies from the bus to the locker room, along with his own bag. After games, he would carry the bag back to the bus. “I was a freshman, and I tried to help out wherever I could,” Robinson told Sports Illustrated. “That bag was too heavy for Lisa.”
3. How did Robinson catch the attention of then-Williams coach Mike Maker during the recruiting process? During a tryout camp for high school basketball players with superior academic records, Robinson “moved fluidly and shot like a machine.” Maker told Sports Illustrated: “I thought of him as a baby (Mike) Dunleavy. I fell in love with him. I recruited him hard.” But Maker quickly learned he needed Robinson to take on a more assertive personality on the court. In the Sports Illustrated story, Maker said he remembers Robinson would thank him after practices for working with him. Maker called Tilton, Robinson’s high school coach, who said: “Yeah, he’s going to keep doing that.” Maker called Robinson into his office and said, “Step on toes. We need you to step on toes.” Robinson became more assertive as the season wore on and his potential began to show. “This guy is like 6-7, and we’re shooting threes and he hasn’t missed a shot in 10 minutes,” Williams College teammate Mike Greenman told Sports Illustrated. “I remember saying to some of the other guys afterward, ‘What is Duncan even doing here?’” 4. Robinson ,24, is now 6- foot -8 and 215 pounds. But he went through quite a growth spurt to get there. “When I was a freshman in high school, I was 5-6, 5-7,” Robinson told 247Sports. “I was short and then I kind of got that growth spurt ... I grew, what, a foot in four years. I was kind of lucky in that regard, also kind of developed the guard skills and the height came after, so that was good.”
5. While Robinson is known for his a bility to make three-pointers (he made 237 at a 41.9 percent rate in three seasons at Michigan), he has spent the past few years working on other areas of his game. He worked on his defense, which probably helped to catch the Heat’s attention. After a Big Ten Tournament game in 2017, Michigan assistant Billy Donlon told Robinson he played a nearly perfect defensive game. “Doing defensive drills in the summer, he always asked questions after,” Donlon told the Detroit Free Press. “I thought it showed his commitment, and he thought it was important, not only in his game but with our team.” According to Donlon, Michigan coach John Beilein would tell Robinson: “You’re a good player that’s a really good shooter. You’re not just a shooter.”