The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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He shrugged and kept on firing, nailing the next five. Shooters repre- sent Beilein gold, and the head coach knows Robinson will, more often than not, exhibit the Midas touch. "Every time he misses, I'm more confident the next one is going to go in," Beilein said. "He's showed that with the lights on. He's going to have off days. We just have to live with it, because he's going to have more on days than off." His father, Jeffrey, insists the newest Wolverine scorer looked Steph Curry smooth the first time he ever let a shot fly. "My dad says I was three or four, and he'd gotten me one of those Lit- tle Tyke hoops," Robinson recalled. "He'd never told me anything about basketball, but he said I picked up a ball one time and shot it. He said it was perfect form. "He said the first time I ever touched the ball, it was elbow in, up and out, holding the ball out there. I don't know how true it is, but he stands by it." "The Natural," on the hardcourt? Not by a long shot. No, when Robinson headed off as a freshman to The Governor's Acad- emy, a boarding prep school 33 miles north of Boston, he stood 14 inches shorter than his present 6-8. He also stood miles from any sort of basket- ball recognition, period. He also lingered quite a few miles from much in the way of entertain- ment, according to Robinson. There was always the gym and a basketball. "It's the middle of nowhere," Rob- inson said of The Governor's Acad- emy. "There wasn't really anything to do on campus. So basically what I would do is go to class and go to practice. I'd just end up staying in the gym. That's where I really honed it." Despite his diligent work, Robinson didn't get the rewards he wanted. He wasn't playing. He'd figured out his school put more emphasis on lacrosse and hockey than basketball, and he realized maybe he wasn't as good as he thought. Then, he began to grow, in a lot of ways. Robinson began picking up three or four inches a year in height, and suddenly he wasn't looking up at everyone on the court. He also got a confidence boost from his parents, who bolstered him more than anyone else at that point. "I remember having a conversation with my mom and dad, and them be- lieving in me and just saying, 'Look, if this is what you want to do, we support you,'" he recalled. "In the summers, my mom would always try to get me to get a job. But she under- stood and would say, 'OK, just be in the gym.' "Going into my senior year, that's what I did. That jump from junior to Head coach John Beilein "Every time he misses, I'm more confident the next one is going to go in."