Robinson has withdrawn from the draft, but still has not committed to come back to BYU or follow Pope to KU.
If BYU’s Jaxson Robinson withdraws from draft, where will he land? – Deseret News
So, he should play for BYU and get NBA coaching. If he could not make the NBA where he wanted to with 2 years with Pope, then why follow Pope anymore? Give Young the opportunity to get him more ready next year? What do you think Floyd?
Well I am not Floyd, but I will put in my two cents. The article says Robinson considered Pope a mentor and had a close relationship with him and that may be hard for Young to overcome. I think BYU would be the best choice for him but I suspect he will get more NIL money at Kentucky. He will probably get more playing time at BYU. Kentucky generally attracts so many bluechippers he may find he has a somewhat reduced role there. At BYU he might be the best player on the team.
Bingo! Saunders also had a very close relationship with Pope. The fact that Robinson went to the combine suggests he’s more interested with improving his stock than NIL money. This doesn’t mean he would pick BYU or Kentucky. He could look elsewhere to find a coach and team that can improve his stock. Hopefully this is where Young can have his contact players in the NBA like Booker help re-recruit Robinson. And, the fact that he will get a chance of more playing time.
NIL changes everything. MANY players with professional dreams of grandeur will make more money from NIL than they will playing professionally, because so many of them just don’t make it in The League. Even Jimmer didn’t make it in the NBA. Yoeli didn’t make it. Haws and Toolson and Barcello–all FANTASTIC college players–didn’t even sniff it. I think the NIL $ is a gigantic incentive for these kids and it takes a special kid to prioritize anything over the $. So assuming UK offers more or “much more” NIL, of course Jaxson would follow his mentor AND follow the money. And if so, good for him. Seems like a great kid. He’s a very good player in college but not at all irreplaceable; there are a lot of holes in his game and I have full confidence in KY to build a good roster.
Have to disagree that he would simply follow the money and Pope to Kentucky. If that were so, Saunders and Hall would be there too. I’m sure he will continue to make good money at BYU. He would also be coached by someone who knows what is needed in the NBA today, not 25 years ago when Pope played. So, I’m hoping that Young can explain these things to him. Especially since he’s not 6’7” as we were told.
Couple of problems with your comments:
BYU and more specifically Tom Holmoe has made it very clear that NIL money will not be the priority for recruiting players. They are trying to sell the “environment” and the experience of BYU, more than putting efforts into the NIL deals. I believe SN had a podcast about this.
If I read Tom’s post correctly, he was making a specific issue of the relationship Robinson had with Pope, from the accounts I read about it, Robinson was very tight with Pope. Tom’s reference to the NIL was to “sweeten” the pot for Robinson to go to Kentucky.
The money is secondary to the relationship to Pope.
On the good news side of things, it looks like a 4-star guard is considering BYU.
This four-star Stanford signee is reportedly visiting BYU after reopening recruitment (yahoo.com)
I assuming this is because of the new coach BYU hired from Stanford and his relationship with this kid.
And the point I made was with Saunders is the same thing with Pope. So, we will see what Robinson does. And, NIL money plus being coached by a real NBA coach should be a no brainer for Robinson.
I hate to take the bait, but the situations with Saunders and Jaxson couldn’t be more different. Saunders grew up a BYU fan, is LDS, and is playing at his dream school close to family and friends. Jaxson is not LDS, has little to no connection with BYU other than with Coach Pope, and is looking at heading to his 4th school in 5 years. I think anyone paying attention would expect Richie to stay and Jaxson to follow Pope (and as Floyd points out, with a big NIL haul, because that’s UK’s recruiting pitch).