Glenn Robinson III becomes the fourth son of an NBA player to commit to Michigan basketball
Glenn Robinson III (above) verbally committed to play at Michigan on Tuesday. The son of Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson would join Tim Hardaway Jr., Jordan Dumars and Jon Horford as Michigan players whose fathers played in the NBA.
Photo courtesy of The Times of Northwest Indiana
Now, a year later, the high school junior has grown and played himself into a scholarship offer from the Michigan basketball team. He verbally accepted it Tuesday, becoming the first member of the Wolverines’ class of 2012.
“He has a very, very good pull-up jumper, gets to the rim, finishes around the rim,” Robinson's high school coach, Dave Milausnic, said Tuesday night. “And he’s only getting better.
“You’re getting a player with a real high ceiling.”
Michigan is also getting a player with some more room to grow. Milausnic said Robinson grew an inch-and-a-half in the past year. He said Robinson was “a shade under” 6-foot-4 during most of last season.
Now, he’s 6-foot-5 ½ and, in Milausnic's estimation, could end up as tall as 6-foot-7.
While Robinson is adding the size, he already had the pedigree. He’s the son of former Purdue All-American and NBA All-Star Glenn Robinson.
By the time Robinson III arrives on campus, he will be the fourth player with NBA bloodlines on the Michigan roster, joining guard Jordan Dumars, swingman Tim Hardaway Jr and forward Jon Horford.
Tom Peller, who coached Michigan junior Zack Novak at Chesterton (Ind.) High School, coached against the younger Robinson last year. When Peller was an assistant at Merrillville (Ind.) High, he coached against the older Robinson.
He said the younger Robinson isn't at his father's level yet. But said it isn't out of the realm of possibility.
“The quickness, jumping quickly, jumping height, running the floor," Peller said of Robinson III. "He scores a lot on athleticism right now.
"...He has some potential to do some great things later on. I coached against him as a sophomore. He's good."
Robinson, rated a three-star recruit by Scout.com, averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2.5 assists last year for Lake Central in his first full year on varsity.
With two years of high school to go before he reaches Michigan, he also has room to both grow and improve.
“I think his aggressiveness as far as, gosh, there are times when he makes an extra pass when you want him to take it to the rim,” Milasunic said. “He can really take over the game with his length when he’s not scoring with tip-ins and offensive rebounds and deflections.
“He’s still trying to figure that out.”
According to Rivals.com, Robinson committed to Michigan over scholarship offers from Colorado, Valparaiso, Missouri State and others.
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein
Comments
rocco
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 2:06 p.m.
Forget the pedigree. It is just one more example of Beilein recruiting from small towns and private, parochial schools. As a major public university, we have to be able to recruit from the major public institutions in the state. Beilein, for all his coaching knowledge, has to be able to recruit and coach Detroit public school products, such as Manny Harris and Lucas Perry, to greatness. Recall that former Michigan standout and current radio sports commentator Tim McCormick predicted that Lucas Perry would have an outstanding career at Michigan. My fear about Beilin is that he looks for compliant athletes not just athletes who are team players, and avoids the Detroit public schools because his reputation there is already tarnished.
ChelseaBob
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 1:37 p.m.
Beilein is recruiting team players and is in the process of building something special. The European trip will make a big difference in how this season starts, and the team play and guts of the guys on the team will make the difference in how we finish. We will challenge for Big 10 title this year. They'll be ups and downs, but it's going to be some great basketball.
manderson
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 10:56 a.m.
AnnouncerMan- Simple answer is the rules regarding scholarship offers differ by sport. Different rules apply for when the student is actually allowed to sign.
bunnyabbot
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 10:50 a.m.
what would be nice is if his daddy said, you know, we can pay for his schooling, that money could go to help someone else in need.
Jay Allen
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 8:49 a.m.
I have a question, I seriously need some help. My daughter just graduated High School and has 2 x D1 scholarships at the school she chose. The recruiting process IMHO was a nightmare. We learned that colleges cannot talk directly to a High Schooler until July 1 AFTER their Junior year. All schools we had contact with played by the same rules. This young man has 2 years of High School left. This means he is just entering his Junior year. So how does it work out he has an offer now? Just Curious.
Bob
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 8:01 a.m.
So now we hype how 4 young men who have had to grow up as a son of an NBA star; end up at the same school and the pressure them is to be as good as their dad. Does that mean the Michigan program has a new "Fab Team"? They can end up like the "Fab 5" who didn't win any National Championships and didn't really live up to all the hype, oh yeah they won the "Big 10", big deal. Let no throw gas on the fire until we know these young men can play together, regardless of who their dad was.
81wolverine
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 7:42 a.m.
It sounds like this Robinson kid has a lot of upside, so it was probably a good use of a scholarship. Michigan still needs to address the size issue in recruiting and get some players who can rebound, block shots, and score inside.
a2roots
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 7:12 a.m.
Not sure if bloodlines will be good enough to get us into the top tier in the Big Ten. Far too many 6'5" recruits. Where are the big bodies that are needed in the Big Ten. Much more help and size needed to get us out of the halls of mediocrity.
coldtoes
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 7:12 a.m.
Shawn Kemp..... stole my thunder, was gonna say the law of averages would suggest that every team would have at least a couple of NBA offspring on their teams.
tnyges
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 6:30 a.m.
After we have signed our 4th son of NBAer Little Dog Robinson (Dumars, Hardaway and Horford), Beilein has finished his recruiting for the next 10 years by signing a package deal for all of Shawn Kemp's offspring. Nothing like a group rate.
Macabre Sunset
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:31 a.m.
There is something to be said for genetics. Not sure it's better than scouting, but Beilein hasn't exactly set the court on fire with his recruiting to date, so why not take this approach? Just avoid Michael Jordan's kid. He's apparently a little spoiled.
michboy40
Tue, Sep 14, 2010 : 11:11 p.m.
4.2, he takes IB and AP classes.
Bonsai
Tue, Sep 14, 2010 : 10:52 p.m.
Take THAT, Valpo!
Tex Treeder
Tue, Sep 14, 2010 : 9:12 p.m.
I wonder what his GPA is...