Monday, March 3, 2008
Russell Robinson’s parents were nervous.
Theresa and Russell Robinson, Sr., who traveled from New York to be at Kansas’ senior night, thought they may have worn out their son by constantly hanging around him the last few days.
Turns out Russell, Jr., wasn’t the least bit tired. In fact, he was the one that exhausted the Texas Tech Red Raiders by leading Kansas to a 109-51 victory in his final game at Allen Fieldhouse.
You could see it in Robinson’s eyes from the beginning. When the Jayhawk seniors were introduced at the start of the night, the other four seniors laughed and smiled.
Not Robinson. Behind the tears flowing down Robinson’s face was a look of determination and finality. His lips were sealed and his eye brows stretched up to his forehead.
“It hit me,” Robinson said. “It hit me that this was my last game. It is the last time I’ll be out there.”
He scored a team-high 15 points on a perfect five-for-five from the field. He also nailed three three-pointers and distributed three assists. Robinson said he could have guarded Kobe Bryant last night. The combination of offensive precision and defensive efficiency helped Robinson tear apart the Red Raiders like a long-distance relationship.
“That was a great way to go out,” Robinson said. “It is definitely one I will remember – probably the one I will remember the most.”
There’s no disputing that senior night belonged to senior guard Jeremy Case. For one night, Case, who scored nine points on three three-pointers, was Allen Fieldhouse’s favorite Jayhawk.
But without Robinson, Case would have never received the opportunity to make the rafters rumble. Robinson made sure all of his teammates got an opportunity to check into the game by putting away the Red Raiders at the beginning of the second half. Down by 23 at halftime, it was going to take a miracle for Texas Tech to get back in the game. Robinson made sure that didn’t happen. He scored eight points in just more than two minutes before checking out and watching his teammates continue the thumping.
There are quite a few point guards in America, North Carolina’s Tywon Lawson and Texas’ D.J. Augustin come to mind, that are more talented than Robinson. Heck, there is probably one, sophomore Sherron Collins, on his team who’s more skilled.
But none of those guys mean close to as much to their team as Robinson does to the Jayhawks. A two-time recipient of the “Mr. Jayhawk” award, Robinson embodies everything Kansas coach Bill Self wants his program to be. No one competes, works or adjusts to their role better than Robinson. And when Robinson gets that look in his eyes, Kansas isn’t going to lose.
“Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan we could be back here making another speech in a couple of weeks,” Robinson said at the end of his senior speech.
He is, of course, alluding to winning a national championship. If Robinson can play like he did against the Red Raiders, anything’s possible.
— Edited by Mandy Earles
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