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2008 KANSAS BASKETBALL
Rachel Anne Seymour/KANSAN
Senior guard Russell Robinson defends Iowa State guard Bryan Peterson at Allen Fieldhouse Jan. 23. About two and-a-half months later, April 13, Robinson held the NCAA championship trophy in the team's victory parade.
every day." The hoops Mecca that is New York gave Robinson the opportunity to play almost anywhere, anytime, and against the best competition.
Hed travel with his Amateur Athletic Union team, the Gauchos, from playground to playground, gym to gym, across the different boroughs on weekends in junior high and high school. They'd compete until they lost and move on, playing at least four games of serious basketball on those days.
"The other kids would want to fight him in the tournaments on the street,"
Theresa said. "You had to be tough."
Robinson's game progressed further at Rice High School, a Christian Brothers school in Central Harlem, where he earned a full scholarship. He started on varsity as a freshman at Rice, something almost unheard of at a New York City high school. The city's only other freshman starter that
year was Lincoln's Sebastian Telfair, who later became the first point guard to enter the NBA Draft out of high school.
In Robinson's second season, his team got the better of Telfair's. Rice defeated Lincoln in the state semifinal and then won state. His Gauchos AAU team also won two national titles.
Much of Robinson's success stemmed from the "edge" his father talked about. Few players brought as much toughness as Robinson. He even played in the post his first two years at Rice.
"I was 6-1 and played like I was 6-5. You have to find a way to stand out, and mine was being tougher than everybody else."
"I was 6-1 and played like I was 6-5," Robinson said. "You have to find a way to
stand out, and mine was being tougher than everybody else."
The banging took its toll on Robinson's body. He broke both ankles and both wrists and suffered chronic shin splints.
An elbow popped into Robinson's mouth in an AAU game at the New Jersey Boy's Club. Blood squirted from his gums and streamed onto the court in red splotches.
But pain never bothered Robinson. Russell Sr. found that out one summer day.
RUSSELL ROBINSON Senior guard
Russell Sr. ran from the bleachers to check on his son.
"Hey," Russell Sr. told him, "let's go to the doctor."
Robinson wouldn't even consider leaving. He played the rest of the game, and his team won. His father finally convinced him to get stitches afterwards.
More than five years later, Russell Sr. still calls it a "wow" moment.
"He played drinking
his own blood," Russell Sr. said.
The toughness attracted college recruiters. Robinson seemed destined for a Big East or ACC school until he met Norm Roberts, then a KU assistant coach. Roberts' New York ties made Robinson feel comfortable with the idea of going to Kansas.
Roberts felt the same connection and liked Robinson more every time he saw him play. His last two years of high school, Robinson was a gunner who averaged 22 points a game, but Roberts also saw defense and unselfishness. One game, Roberts said
SEE ROBINSON ON PAGE 52
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN