Forward Devin Robinson is limited to half-court drills while being eased back into action following offseason foot surgery.
Robinson Can Wait to Put His Best (and Healed) Foot Forward
Monday, October 3, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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The junior forward is coming off surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When the MRI results came back in April, forward Devin Robinson went into the proverbial jar. Mere weeks after submitting his name for feedback regarding his chances to be selected in the NBA draft, Florida's health staff discovered the pain Robinson began having in his foot after the season was actually a stress fracture.
Worse than that, it was navicular fracture, the likes of which ended the athletic careers of NBA star Yao Ming and MLB standout Frank Thomas.
"I was in the dumps, just really upset over it all because I'd never really been seriously injured before," Robinson said. "But after a while, I thought about it more and more and just tried to take a negative and turn it into a positive. I thought, you know, maybe it was a sign I needed another year to develop."
Fast forward six months to Monday night, when the 6-foot-8, 200-pound Robinson, now a junior, took the floor alongside his Florida teammates for the first full-blown official practice of the 2016-17 basketball season. Coach Mike White's second UF squad -- which lost leading scorer/rebounder Dorian Finney-Smith, but added College of Charleston wing Canyon Barry as a graduate transfer, plus a trio of freshmen -- hit the court at 6:15 p.m. and went hard for 2 1/2 hours, with a lot of emphasis on running. How much?
Miss your team free-throw target, run for time.
Turn the ball over, run for time.
Lose a team drill, run for time.
Don't make your run-for-time time, run for time again.
"You want guys to rally together and help each other through what is usually perceived as the hardest practice of the year, so you look for a high level of intensity and effort, togetherness, unselfishness, those types of things," White said. "I'm pleased with our first day, but like every team in the country we've got a lot of things to clean up."
Robinson, meanwhile, was just glad to back, even in his somewhat reduced capacity. Example: When the Gators were running sprints, he was doing push-ups on the sidelines.
And smiling.
"When you miss all summer like I did, you just want to be back with the guys," he said.
Robinson had company in the training room most of the summer, alongside 6-11, 255-pound center John Egbunu, who tore ligaments in his right thumb late last season and was shut down for surgery during the team's run through the NIT. Whereas Robinson could not work his lower body over the summer, Egbunu was restricted with what he could do with his upper body, even with regards to drills on the floor. The health staff did want to run the risk of Egbunu suffering a setback by, for example, getting fouled or jamming the hand playing defense. He was cleared to return to the court at the start of Summer "B," then for all contact work when the fall semester began.
Trainer David "Duke" Werner oversaw both Robinson's and Egbunu's rehab processes, erring on the side of caution all the way.
"There are only a few times during the year you can treat injuries conservatively," Werner said. "You don't want to be into January and wishing you'd done something differently."
Junior center John Egbunu, who is coming off thumb surgery, sprints the floor and inishes a layup during Monday's opening practice of the season.
So far, the early returns on each player is good. Considering both Robinson and Egbunu were contemplating turning pro at the time of their injuries, having both of them back is almost a bonus.
White is definitely happy they're still around.
On Robinson: "He's going really hard with his limited amount of reps and he's really shooting the ball at a different level now; better than I've ever seen him shoot it. He was limited basically to chair workouts through the summer and took advantage of that. He also did a lot of form shooting and I think he's really improved his stroke."
On Egbunu: "I thought he was damn good today. He's playing with confidence and maturity. He's trying to play with more of an even-keel mindset, trying to play with an equal amount of emotion, but trying to be less emotional, if that makes sense."
Robinson averaged 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds last season, while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 34.0 from 3-point range and 75.6 from the free-throw line. During one eight-game stretch late in the season, Robinson went on a 17-for-32 stretch from the arc; during one early season stretch, he tallied three double-digit rebound games over a seven-game span, including a career-best 13.
Now, the goal is more consistency in everything; shooting, rebounding, defense, etc., as Robinson looks to reach the max potential of the top-25 prospect he was when he signed in the fall of 2013. His time away from the floor following a very complicated and delicate surgery meant Robinson spent more time in the weight room, including four straight weeks of nothing but upper-body work.
"It was terrible," said Robinson, who now benches around 250 pounds and is significantly more defined in his shoulders and upper back. "I seriously do feel it translating on the court to more box-outs and more rebounds."
For Egbunu, who averaged 11.5 points on 59.1 percent from the floor to go with 6.5 rebounds per game, the focus is on increased stamina running the floor, more efficiency when receiving the ball in the post, and that more level-headed demeanor White talked about.
Getting those elements from both players — without question — will translate to more success for the Gators.
But it's still early October.
"We're not trying to burn me out and have me in pain in January or February when it really counts," Robinson said. "We're just trying to work me back and coast me into things so I can hit the floor running with no pain when it's time to go."
That'll be soon enough.
For the rest of the Gators, thoughm, it was go-time Monday. They'll be back at it Tuesday. The season has begun.
"I loved it," freshman guard Eric Hester said of his first collegiate practice. "It was hard, it was challenging and I can't wait to get out there again."
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