Mitchell Robinson Skipping College: A Rare Thing Or...

Mitchell Robinson Skipping College: A Rare Thing Or...

2017 McDonald's All American Mitchell Robinson has officially left Western Kentucky for good and will begin training for the 2018 NBA Draft.

Sep 19, 2017 by Brett Regan
Mitchell Robinson Skipping College: A Rare Thing Or...
Mitchell Robinson will not play college basketball this season. Not at Western Kentucky, where he signed, enrolled, left, and went back. Not anywhere. Instead, the 2017 Flo40 No. 8 prospect has completely turned his focus to the 2018 NBA Draft.

As first reported by Scout's Evan Daniels this week, the 7-foot superstar from Chalmette (LA) has decided to leave the Hilltoppers program for the second time and will move to Dallas to begin training for next June's draft.

This has been quite the rollercoaster ride for the McDonald's All-American, who averaged 25.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, and six blocks per game as a prep senior. He enrolled and attended two weeks of summer school at Western Kentucky before seeking to transfer, was granted his release, and visited LSU, Kansas, and New Orleans -- maybe even just to redshirt had he committed -- before eventually returning and re-enrolling at the Bowling Green, KY, campus.

But after 40 days combined in two stints, Robinson is officially gone for good.

"The lifetime goal of mine is to play in the NBA, and I feel like forgoing my year of college and going straight to work on a day to day basis will help prepare me, so I can focus just on basketball and maturing," Robinson told Scout.

Although the details of the entire situation might seem a bit odd, wild, and confusing -- and they are -- all anyone really needs to know is that one of the top prospects in the country, who many projected would be a one-and-done player anyway, will never play a single college basketball game.

Is this a good move by Robinson or not? It's hard to say, or even really judge. Rightly or wrongly, t's likely just in the eye of the beholder.

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In the last two years, there have been some intriguing decisions made by some top prospects with the NBA's 19-year-old age limit.

Former McDonald's All American Terrance Ferguson played for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia instead of going to college. Kevin Knox turned down $1.4 million to play in China before committing to Kentucky. Hamidou Diallo skipped his final prep semester to attend Kentucky. Marvin Bagley III skipped his entire senior season to play at Duke in 2017-18.

Robinson's choice to not attend college or play abroad, however, is in a league of its own.

Just when you thought you've seen everything in basketball, something new happens. But only time will tell if this is a rare decision or the start of a new trend.

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