How Jaxson Robinson’s Season-Ending Injury Affect His Draft Stock

The Kentucky Wildcats have had a solid season under their first year under Mark Pope. He previously coached at BYU before taking the job at Kentucky, where they were previously coached by John Calipari, who had been with the program since 2009. This first season in the post-Calipari era has been riddled with injuries.

Kerr Kriisa has missed the majority of the season due to a foot injury he suffered against Gonzaga back in December. Lamont Butler has missed some games due to a shoulder injury that is clearly still lingering. Now, Jaxson Robinson suffered a wrist injury, which occurred versus South Carolina on Feb. 8. He attempted to play versus Oklahoma on Feb. 26, but didn’t play the entire second half.

This past weekend, coach Pope announced that Robinson would miss the remainder of the season as the plan is for him to get surgery on his wrist in the upcoming week. This will put an end to Robinson’s college career as this was his fifth season competing in college basketball. On the year he averaged 13 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 43.2% from the field and 37.6% from behind the arc.

This is a brutal loss for the Wildcats, as Robinson was clearly their most talented all-around scorer on this roster. The 6-foot-7 wing showcased great shooting ability off the catch with very deep range. He’s more than just a spot-up shooter as he also has the ability to put the ball on the floor and make difficult pull-up jumpers. Robinson is a tough shot-maker that possesses a ton of shot versatility.

The Kentucky wing at times picked up point guard responsibilities when Butler was out and Robinson showed he had the ability to make very good reads out of the pick and roll. He was just an average finisher at the rim as he lacked explosion and struggled to finish through contact, but he showed touch on some floaters. Kentucky losing their second leading scorer means Koby Brea and their freshmen wings will have to take a massive step forward as far as production goes.

As of now, most scouts see Robinson as a second-round pick candidate with the chance of going undrafted. This obviously hurts the chances of Kentucky winning a national championship this season and could potentially affect the draft stock Robinson had gained throughout this season with the Wildcats.