Jaxson Robinson Bringing Experienced Leadership So Far in Practice

jaxson-robinson

As a guy who knows Mark Pope inside and out after playing under him for the last two seasons at BYU, Jaxson Robinson understands how Mark Pope is as a coach and a person, and knows all of his styles and verbiage he uses when he's on the court.

Mark Pope has mentioned before that he has been teaching the team all of the terms he uses during the game and practice, in hopes that all of the players pick up on it. That's starting to happen, but one person that has been a big help in the others understanding how Pope coaches is Jaxson Robinson, who has been in Pope's system longer than anyone else on the roster. "It's a gift," Pope said. "So I bumble around saying what I'm saying, and Jaxson's like, 'Alright guys, here's what he really means.' He's a great interpreter, and he's not just an interpreter of words and concepts on the court. He'll also double down on the ideas about like, 'Hey guys, this is really important, like you're gonna hear this, what we just talked about you're gonna hear every day for the rest of the season."

"He's a pretty good distiller of information for us, and then also the vibe, the feel, the approach of the game," Pope said. "He's got a good sense of how we try and build a locker room and the things that are important to us in the locker room and how we try and cultivate communication on the floor. He's done a great job of being an example of that and he's a really, really vital piece. It doesn't hurt that he's an NBA caliber player."

The reigning Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year will be a major part in Kentucky's success this season.