When Mark Pope waited to see which players stayed in the NBA Draft and which players withdrew their names, there was only one that he and all of Kentucky fans were focused on. That was BYU guard Jaxson Robinson.
Robinson waited even beyond the draft deadline to officially announce his decision -- and that was to take his name out of the draft and return to college. But, instead of returning to BYU, he followed Pope to Lexington.
Kentucky not only needed a player like Robinson in its backcourt, it also needed someone with a veteran presence who had the experience playing for Pope. Check and check.
Securing Robinson gave Kentucky the missing piece it was looking for. Not only did that make the Wildcats a top-25 team, it also put them squarely in the SEC race.
Now, Kentucky could be battling atop the conference.
"The SEC was already the race to watch, but the returns of Mark Sears and Kentucky's addition of Jaxson Robinson made the push for the 2024-25 SEC crown more competitive," Myron Medcalf wrote.
Robinson played two years at BYU for Pope, averaging 11.4 points per game across 66 games. He was BYU's leading scorer last season at 14.2 points per game off of the bench.
It's clear his talent, a projected second-round pick by multiple NBA mock drafts, will skyrocket Kentucky's stock.
"An abundance of talent, however, doesn't offer any guarantees. Calipari's final years at Kentucky proved as much. But Robinson is a future pro who helped Pope a year ago as a reserve for BYU," Medcalf added. "The addition gives Pope options with his rotations and also gives him experience off the bench, which is something Calipari lacked in recent years at Kentucky."
Robinson was the Big 12's Sixth Man of the Year this season and was terrific despite coming off of the bench.
In BYU's biggest wins, Robinson was a factor. He had 23 points agianst NC State, 17 points against Texas and 18 points against Kansas.
He had 25 of BYU's 67 points in its 2024 NCAA Tournament loss to Duquesne.
“Jaxson Robinson has been one of the most improved players in the country for two straight years and is barely scratching the surface of his potential,” Pope said. “His growth trajectory is incredible."
Time will tell, but Kentucky has the pieces to make the SEC interesting and look to advance out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019.