NBA dream comes true for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was a Knick for about a New York minute Thursday night.
Watching the NBA Draft in Chicago with his family Thursday night, Robinson-Earl heard deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced that the Knicks had selected the third-team All-American forward from Villanova with the 32nd pick.
Shortly thereafter, though, Robinson-Earl learned that Oklahoma City, not the Big Apple, would be his NBA destination. The Knicks traded his rights to the Thunder for the rights to Lithuanian point guards Rokas Jokubaitis of Lithuanian and West Virginia’s
Miles McBride, the Nos. 34 and 36 picks, respectively.
“Words can describe this moment!” Robinson-Earl tweeted Friday. “OKC, here I come!”
Robinson-Earl was an impact player from the moment he stepped on campus. He started all 31 games as a freshman and averaged 10.5 points and 9.4 rebounds, one of just five Wildcats to averaged nine or more rebounds a game in a season since 1973. He was named Big East Rookie of the Year.
The 6-9, 230-pound forward briefly tested the NBA waters but decided to return to Villanova for his sophomore season and took his game up another notch. He started all 25 games and led the Wildcats in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.5)
while handing out 2.2 assists per game.
He earned first-team All-Big East and All-Big 5 honors, shared Big East Player of the Year honors with teammate Collin Gillespie and Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili, and was named third-team All-America by The Sporting News and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Robinson-Earl also was a third team CoSIDA Academic All-American. He guided Villanova an 18-7 record, its seventh Big East regular-season title in the last eight years and a spot the Sweet 16 where the Wildcats lost to eventual national champion Baylor.
For his career he averaged 12.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Robinson-Earl’s basketball IQ is off the charts. When Gillespie got hurt Wright used him to bring up the ball. He is a tenacious defender and rebounder who showed an ability to cover every position on the floor. He was a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, which goes to the top power forward in college basketball.
Robinson-Earl is the ninth player from Villanova drafted in the last seven years, joining Darrun Hillard (2015), Josh Hart (2017), Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman, Jalen Brunson (2018), Eric Paschall (2019) and Saddiq Bey (2020). Paschall (Golden State) and Bey (Detroit) were both named to the NBA AllRookie teams in the past two seasons.
“The Thunder are lucky to be getting a highcharacter, hard-working young man,” Villanova coach Jay Wright tweeted from Tokyo, where he is an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s national team. “Jeremiah is ready to compete at the next level in the NBA. @NovaMBB and the entire NovaNation are very proud of you. #OnceAWildcatAlwaysAWildcat”
••• Villanova’s Chris Arcidiacono, Abington grad Eric Dixon, Trey Patterson and Brandon Slater are about to get some international experience.
The quartet have been selected to represent the United States in the final three stops of the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League in Voiron, France from Aug 2-4.
A total of 26 national federations registered for both the men’s and women’s 3x3 competition with teams being allocated in five different conferences: Africa, Asia, Europe-America, Europe 1 and Europe 2. Arcidiacono, Dixon, Patterson and Slater will take part in the Europe-America division.
This is the first time with USA basketball for Arcidiacono and Slater, who will be a junior and senior, respectively. Patterson, a freshman, and Dixon, a sophomore, have prior experience with the national program.
Patterson attended the 2021 USA U19 World Cup Team training camp this past June. Dixon participated in the 2019 USA U19 World Cup Team training camp, 2018 USA U17 World Cup Team training camp, 2017 USA Men’s Junior National Team October minicamp and the 2017 USA U16 National Team training camp.
“Good luck to our four guys who will be headed to Voiron, France to represent @usabasketball in the U23 #3x3 Nations League,” Wright tweeted. “Ready to work!!”