Duncan Robinson (basketball)
Duncan McBryde Robinson is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the NCAA Division III Williams College Ephs and the NCAA Division I Michigan Wolverines. He transferred to Michigan from Williams after leading the NCAA Division III Williams Ephs to the 2014 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament championship game. He was the 2014 Division III Rookie of the Year and a Division III All-American.
Robinson played high school basketball for The Governor's Academy before a postgraduate season at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he led the team to a New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class A championship in 2013. He earned the 2013 NEPSAC Class A tournament MVP. He was a NEPSAC All-League First Team selection in both 2012 and 2013.
Robinson made a splash in his first season of play at Michigan. He led the Big Ten Conference in three point shooting percentage from the beginning of conference play in December 2015 until early February 2016. In his three-year career at Michigan, he made several game-changing three-point shots late in Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament victories and was a member of tournament champions in 2017 and 2018. Robinson was the 2018 Big Ten Conference Sixth Man of the Year. He was part of the 2017–18 team that lost to Villanova in the Championship Game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.
As a member of the Heat, he set franchise records for three point shots made in a quarter and in a half and tied the franchise record for three point shots made in a game. He has represented the Heat in the NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest. In his second season, Robinson set a Heat franchise record for three-pointers made in a season.
Early life
Born April 22, 1994 in York, Maine, Robinson is the son of the Elisabeth and Jeffrey Robinson and the youngest of their three children. Jeffrey, who is, had played one season for the Maine Black Bears. Robinson grew up in the town of New Castle, New Hampshire, where his Maude H. Trefethen Elementary School 6th grade graduating class was composed of four students. He attended Rye Junior High School and elected to attend The Governor's Academy in Massachusetts rather than Portsmouth High School, which is the public high school for students in New Castle.Robinson began his freshman season as a point guard for The Governor's Academy in 2008, but did not play much until he became "serviceable" as a junior. In his early years, he shot for hours, attempting to make 1600 shots per week. Robinson started working with trainer Noah LaRoche during his junior season. After Christmas of his junior year, he began to see a future in basketball although he was still coming off the bench. After averaging 18.5 points as a senior at The Governor's Academy, he was selected to the 2012 All-NEPSAC Class B first team and the 2012 All-Independent School League team. He graduated with a 3.55 G.P.A. Following his senior season, he still had visions of an NCAA Division I scholarship offer and opted for the spring and summer Amateur Athletic Union circuit and a postgraduate year. Robinson played for Michael Crotty Jr.'s Middlesex Magic AAU team, who helped win the Basketbull National HOF Championship. Crotty had been a two-time All-American at Williams College, having served as point guard for the 2003 NCAA Division III Tournament champions. Following his senior season, Robinson measured and. By the end of the summer, he had become and.
During the last weekend of September 2012 while on a campus visit, Division III Williams made Robinson an offer that he accepted immediately. At the time, Williams was ranked the number one liberal arts college in the country according to U.S. News & World Report, and the school was a Division III basketball powerhouse. They had gone 93–22 over the prior four seasons under head coach Mike Maker. In 2013, Robinson led Phillips Exeter Academy to its first NEPSAC Class A championship victory on March 10 against Choate Rosemary Hall with a 24-point, 10-rebound MVP performance. Exeter finished the season at 28–1. Nonetheless, his only scholarship offer was from NCAA Division II's Merrimack College. He also had interest from Division I Brown Bears and Columbia Lions as well as Division III Bates and Amherst.
College career
Williams College
Prior to the November 15, 2013 season opener against Southern Vermont College, Williams was ranked third in the nation according to the preseason poll. Williams lost in the shadow of a home court scheduling conflict despite 5–6 shooting by Robinson. Robinson became the only freshman starter in Maker's six-year tenure as head coach at Williams. In his 2013–14 freshman season at Williams, Robinson was twice named New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Week during the regular season. Williams reached the 2014 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament championship game, but fell 75–73 to University of Wisconsin–Whitewater as Robinson scored 17 points. After Williams took a one-point lead with 4.9 seconds left, Wisconsin pushed the ball upcourt without calling time-out to score the winning basket in what Chris Strauss of USA Today described as the best NCAA basketball tournament game of the weekend. Robinson had posted 30 points in the tournament semifinals against bitter rival Amherst College who had defeated Williams in the season's three previous meetings. Williams finished the season with a 28–5 record. That season, he led Williams in minutes played, points scored, three-point shots made, three-point %, free throw percentage, blocks and steals. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 34.7 minutes per game. Following the season, he was the NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a Second Team All-NESCAC selection. Robinson became Williams' first freshman to be named All-American, first D3Hoops.com National Rookie of the Year, first freshman NCAA All-Tournament Team selection and first freshman 500-point scorer. His season was described as "one of the best freshman seasons in Division III men's basketball history" by Jeremy Leveille of WGAM in a story for NHNotebook.com.Following the 2013–14 season, Maker left Williams to become the head coach for the Marist Red Foxes. Robinson was immediately contacted by schools from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, Atlantic 10, Ivy League, Patriot League and American East conferences. Among the schools that were interested were Creighton, Boston College and Providence. After his freshman success, he had decided that he would only leave Williams to play for a winning program that was an elite academic institution and that used a system and style that he had become used to. Robinson had played against Nik Stauskas in NEPSAC play and was impressed with how Michigan's John Beilein had developed "under-recruited players" such as Stauskas who was a 1st round selection in the 2014 NBA Draft. Maker had been an assistant coach for Beilein at West Virginia from 2005–07. At both Exeter and Williams, Robinson had played in systems that were similar to the one that Beilein runs at Michigan. Robinson asked Maker to contact Beilein who on faith replied that Michigan may have interest at the preferred walk-on level. Robinson was not interested in walk-on consideration given competing scholarship offers. A week later, after seeing video, Beilein said Michigan was considering a scholarship offer. Robinson scheduled visits to Michigan and new Atlantic 10 member Davidson. After the visit to Michigan, Robinson committed to the school. He announced his decision via Twitter on August 6, 2014.
University of Michigan
Sophomore season
Robinson is the first player to transfer from Division III to Division I with a full scholarship according to some sources. During the 2014–15 NCAA Division I season, Robinson redshirted for the Michigan Wolverines, meaning that he could not participate in games, but could practice with the team. In December 2014 with assistant coach Jeff Meyer as his rebounder, Robinson broke Stauskas' Michigan Wolverines' practice record for three-pointers in a drill by posting 78, surpassing Stauskas by three.In Robinson's second game for the 2015–16 Michigan Wolverines, he posted 19 points on 6–6 shooting from the floor against Elon. On December 12, Michigan defeated Delaware State 80–33, as Robinson made his first career start for Michigan by posting 11 points on 3–5 three-point shooting. At the time Robinson ranked third in the nation in three-point shooting percentage. Note that various sources have various eligibility thresholds. E.g., while BigTen.org only requires a minimum of 1.0 made per game, NCAA.org requires a minimum of 2.5 made per game. On December 23, Robinson tied his career high with six assists against Bryant. The game marked the ninth consecutive game in which he made at least three 3-point shots. Robinson entered conference play as the Big Ten leader in three-point field goal percentage and led the Big Ten Conference in both three-point field goals and three-point field goal percentage through the first week of the Big Ten Conference schedule. On January 12, with leading scorer Caris LeVert sidelined, Michigan defeated Maryland 70–67 as Robinson contributed 17 points on 5–9 three-point shooting. On January 23, Michigan defeated Nebraska 81–68, behind a game-high and season-high 21 points by Robinson. With the Cornhusker defense challenging his three-point shot, he scored more points inside the three-point line than outside it for the first time as a Wolverine. The January 27 game against Rutgers marked the 17th consecutive game in which Robinson made at least two three-point shots. Robinson made only one three-point shot in each the subsequent two games against Penn State and Indiana. Nonetheless, Robinson entered the February 6 Michigan–Michigan State rivalry game against the 10th-ranked Michigan State Spartans as the Big Ten Conference leader in three-point shots made and three-point field goal percentage, but he was held to 0–3 three-point shooting in the game. The game marked the first time since the season opener, that Robinson did not make a single three-point shot, ending a 22-game streak. On February 10, Michigan defeated Minnesota as Robinson posted a game- and season-high nine rebounds to go along with 14 points on 4-for-7 three-point shooting.
On March 10, in Michigan's first game of the 2016 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament against Northwestern, Robinson scored 21 points including a three-point shot that tied the score with 46.5 seconds remaining in overtime. The following day, in the quarterfinals against first-seeded Indiana, Robinson again put Michigan in position to win by tying the score with a three-point shot with 46 seconds remaining. The following day, in the semifinals against Purdue, Robinson recorded his 90th three-pointer of the season, becoming just the fifth Wolverine in history to reach the milestone. On March 16, in the First Four round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan defeated Tulsa, 67–62, with support from Robinson who recorded his first double-double as a Wolverine with 13 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Robinson finished the season second to Bryn Forbes among Big Ten players in three-point field goal percentage with a 45.0% mark.
Junior season
Following the previous season, several other wing players left the team. Caris LeVert graduated. Aubrey Dawkins transferred to play for the UCF Knights. Kameron Chatman announced his intention to transfer. Robinson mostly came off the bench, although he did start one game due to a bookkeeping error on December 17 against Maryland Eastern Shore. Late in the season, he began producing The Dak and Dunc Show podcast with teammate Andrew Dakich for WCBN-FM Sports, which was available on iTunes. The team won the 2017 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and reached the sweet sixteen round of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.Senior season
Robinson began his senior season with a team-high 21 points against North Florida on November 11, 2017. In the game, he and Charles Matthews became the first Michigan teammates to score 20 points in a game since March 3, 2015. On January 13, Isaiah Livers replaced Robinson in the starting lineup for Michigan when they faced Michigan State in their rivalry game. With Livers sidelined on February 11, Robinson returned to the starting lineup, where he recorded 16 points, including 14 points in the first half in an 83-72 victory over Wisconsin. On February 14, Robinson recorded 18 points, on a season-high six three-point shots in a 74-59 victory over Iowa. With his six three-pointers in the game, Robinson surpassed Zack Novak for sixth all-time on Michigan's career three-point leaderboard with 215 for his career Following the 2017–18 Big Ten Conference regular season, Robinson was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year by the coaches. On March 1 in the 2018 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Robinson helped lead Michigan to a 77-71 overtime victory over Iowa after his co-captains, Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman, fouled out by converting a go ahead three-point shot with 2:17 remaining in overtime and two free throws to give Michigan a two-possession lead with 10 seconds remaining. The following day in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament Robinson scored his 1,000th career point on his second three-point field goal of the first half. Robinson finished the game with 16 points off the bench, including four three-pointers in a 77-58 victory over Nebraska. Robinson averaged 11 points per game during Michigan's four games, helping them win the tournament championship. On March 21, Robinson became an Academic All-Big Ten honoree. The team lost in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game to Villanova. Robinson was the first player to play in both an NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game and a Division III championship game. Over the course of three seasons, Robinson finished his career with 237 made three-point shots, placing fourth on Michigan's all-time list.Professional career
Miami Heat (2018–present)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, he signed an NBA Summer League contract with the Miami Heat. After 5 summer league games in which he averaged 12.4 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 58% from the field including 63% on three-point shots, he agreed to a two-way contract with the Miami Heat and Sioux Falls Skyforce on July 10, 2018. When Robinson made his NBA debut, it was the first by a former Division III player since Devean George. Robinson joined Big X, a team composed of former Big Ten players, in The Basketball Tournament 2018.Although the Heat's formal training camp did not begin until September 25, 2018, Robinson declined an invitation to participate as part of the G League-manned squad that Team USA used from September 6 through September 17 to qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup so that he could participate in informal developmental training with the Heat. When the Heat began the season with four injured players, Robinson and fellow two-way player Yante Maten made the official October 15 opening day roster. The team began the season with 14 players under full NBA contracts. When the G League training camps opened on October 22, Robinson stayed with the Heat. Robinson made his NBA debut in the Heat's fourth game of the season on October 24, against the New York Knicks with three points and four rebounds in 10 minutes of action. He made his first Field goal attempt, a three-point shot. He scored 15 points as a starter when Sioux Falls opened its season on November 2 with a 112–101 victory against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Robinson scored five points in his first NBA start on February 25, 2019 against the Phoenix Suns. Robinson was a 2019 All-NBA G League Third Team selection after posting 21.4 points with a 51.4 percent field goal percentage and 48.3 three-point percentage along with 4.3 rebounds and three assists in 33 games, which resulted in his contract being converted to a standard two-year contract on April 9. Robinson closed the season with his first double-digit scoring effort with 15 points against the Brooklyn Nets on April 10.
During the 2019 off-season, Robinson's contract became a $1 million guarantee with the possibility of a $1.4 million guarantee if he remained on the roster through midseason. He bulked up prior to the 2019–20 season. With Jimmy Butler sidelined on October 27, Robinson posted a then career-high 21 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He then posted 23 points on 7-for-11 three-point shooting on November 3 against the Houston Rockets. On November 20, Robinson posted a career-high 29 points against his college coach John Beilein's Cleveland Cavaliers, establishing Heat records with 7 three-point shots in a quarter and 8 in a half. On December 1, Robinson posted a 10-rebound/10-point double-double against the Brooklyn Nets. On December 10, Robinson scored a career-high 34 points, making 10 three-pointers that tied a Heat franchise record for three-points made in a game, in a 135–121 overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks. Following his performance, the Wall Street Journal called Robinson "the most improbable player in the NBA" and "one of the best shooters on the planet" in an article on December 13, 2019. He appeared as a competitor in the Three-Point Contest at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. On March 6, 2020, Robinson scored 24 points and had five rebounds and four assists in a 110-104 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, shooting 8-of-14 on three-pointers. His 8 three pointers raised his single-season total to 233 with 19 games remaining, passing Wayne Ellington's single-season Heat three-pointers record, Damon Jones's NBA undrafted player single-season three-pointers record, and Kyle Korver's NBA single-season record for most by a first or second year player. The performance set Robinson up for two more record chases on March 8: tie with Rafer Alston for most consecutive games by a Heat player with at least one 3-pointer and George McCloud's NBA record largest increase in made three pointers from one season to the next. On March 8, Robinson's former roommate, Mo Wagner got Robinson's temper up enough to earn his first technical foul. Robinson is also on pace to smash other NBA records: 3-point percentage of field goals attempts and fewest 2-point field goal attempts.