Sixteen years after his dad, then affectionately known as Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson finished up a National Player of the Year campaign at Purdue, then went on to become the #1 overall draft pick in the NBA, Glen Robinson III gave a verbal commitment to play his college ball at the University of Michigan. The younger Robinson is a 6‘7, 195 lb, silky smooth small forward, who is rated as the #72 overall player by ESPN in the 2012 HS Class.
The rising junior player surprisingly wasn’t shown a ton of early interest from his father’s alma mater Purdue, so he chose to accept a scholarship offer from Big Ten Conference rival Michigan Wolverines. Robinson III interestingly joins 3 other siblings of former NBA players who will shortly be playing on the Michigan roster along with the newly transfered Jordan Dumars(son of Joe Dumars), Tim Hardaway Jr(son of Tim Hardaway), and Jon Horford(son of Tito Horford and brother of Al Horford).
He obviously has great bloodlines, but ESPN describes him as:
“Robinson is a very skilled and smooth scorer. He is a good athlete and has an excellent feel for the game especially on the offensive end of the floor. He can make scoring plays off the catch and dribble with range to the arc. He can pass and is a good ball handler as well. He must add strength and continue to built his game mostly in the areas of rebounding and defensively but Robinson has great upside.”
The junior player caught Michigan coach Beilein’s eye at their annual Michigan Elite Camp for rising prospects. The 4 star player averaged 16 ppg, 6 rebs, and 2.5 ast as a sophomore at St. John’s(Indiana) Lake Central HS and continues to impress scouts at a number of top tier AAU events while playing for the well known Spiece Indy Heat squad. He reportedly also had offers and interest from a number of Division I schools like Missouri St, Colorado, Xavier, Wisconsin, and Butler.
It sure looks like coach Beilein made a gut decision to get in early on one of the fastest rising players in the 2012 Class. If he adds a few pounds to his slightly leaner frame than his well accomplished father, the “Little Dog” may shortly begin his own accomplishments and legacy in Big Ten Conference basketball.
If he is only half of the player his father was, the Wolverines are getting a heck of a player with tremendous upside. The “Big Dog” in his two seasons with the Boilermakers was virtually unstoppable and averaged an eye-popping 30.3 ppg, 10.1 rebounds, and made nearly 40% on threes in his 1994 POY campaign. He arguably was a tad disappointing as a pro since he never was as dominating as a collegian with averages of 20.7 ppg, 6.1 rebs, 2.7 ast, and 34% from behind the arc. He also only played only 1 full season due to injuries and suspensions, on 4 teams, over his 11 year career. He did however pick up a ring as a bench player with the ‘04-’05 NBA Champion Spurs before retiring after the season.
Check out the “Big Dog” in action at Purdue during the ‘93-’94 season:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
