The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BY JOHN BORTON D uncan Robinson has loved basketball as far back as he can remember. It just didn't always love him back. Michigan's redshirt sophomore wing didn't get interest from big- time college basketball programs as a freshman in high school, like some do. Or as a sophomore. Or as a junior. Truth be told, he didn't even play much on his own boarding school team. It's tough to get Michigan's attention when you can't crack the lineup at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Mass. "There was a second there where I didn't know if I was going to play college basketball, let alone at the Di- vision I level," Robinson recalled. In fact, there were many seconds of doubt. "I was 5-6 as a freshman," he said. "I hit a growth spurt. But my fresh- man, sophomore and junior years, I had hardly played on varsity. I played JV my freshman year, and my sopho- more and junior year I didn't really play. "I was on the team, but I wasn't get- ting the results I wanted. I remember the first five games of my junior year, two of them I literally didn't check in. I was like, 'what's going on here?'" He's checking in as a difference- maker for the Wolverines these days. At 6-8, the lanky sharpshooter has risen up as the most recent weapon in John Beilein's arsenal, someone who makes threes like he's stamping parts on an assembly line. In his first nine games for Beilein this season, he nailed 30 of 51 three- point attempts, a 58.8-percent success rate. His practice efforts are legend- ary, including marksmanship eclips- ing some of Nik Stauskas' records. Robinson usually makes about 115 threes in his 35-40-minute, pre-warm- ups warm-up routine before games. Teammates and coaches marveled at his shooting prowess, even during his quiet year between a transfer from Division III Williams College to his Michigan debut in 2015-16. Robinson doesn't come across quite as brash as Stauskas, but he doesn't expect to misfire very often, either. "I think I should make every one," Robinson offered. He knows it doesn't work that way, and so does Beilein, but both know Robinson can shoot. That's why nei- ther flinched when the wing began the Houston Baptist game 0-for-4 from long range. SHARPSHOOTER Duncan Robinson Has Quickly Shown He Is A Three-Point Marksman