Duke’s stealth leader, Justin Robinson showed out big time to subdue N.C. State
Justin Robinson routinely helps Duke basketball find success. He just normally does it in ways the public never sees, like running the scout team in practice or offering encouraging words to a struggling teammate in a private moment.
On Monday night, with the No. 12 Blue Devils searching for anything positive as the real possibility of being swept by N.C. State existed, the 6-9 senior forward displayed all the on-court skills he’s honed.
He drilled a pair of 3-pointers. He blocked shots. He grabbed offensive rebounds. He dunked.
In easily the most important 14 minutes of playing time in his Duke career, Robinson scored 10 points with six rebounds as Duke overcame N.C. State’s first-half lead to roll over the Wolfpack 88-69.
The win helped Duke end a frustrating two-game losing streak. It allowed the Blue Devils a measure of revenge after N.C. State smacked them 88-66 in Raleigh last month.
Robinson’s spark led the Blue Devils to pull together when things looked bleak early in Monday’s game. The resulting win meant Duke started March the way it expects to spend most of the season’s most important month — posting victories.
“That,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “was a big win for us.”
That Robinson played such an important factor added to the win’s magic.
Hall of Famer David Robison’s son, Justin arrived at Duke as a walk-on player in 2015 months after the Blue Devils won their fifth NCAA tournament title.
Over the last four seasons, including a redshirt year in 2015-16, he’s played sparingly during games. Until last week, he’d only played 10 minutes or more in three games and they were all lopsided Duke wins.
That didn’t mean he had no impact on Duke’s program. Quite the contrary, he’s a team captain this season for a reason.
“He has a voice that everyone listens to,” Krzyzewski said.
“For the four years that I’ve been here,” Duke senior and fellow team captain Javin DeLaurier said, “he’s been the best teammate that you can ask for. A guy who hasn’t been able to shine as much on the court, but now that’s happening. We are not surprised. We’ve seen him do this every day in practice for years now. But it’s a great lift for our team when a guy like that comes in and does what he does.”
Robinson’s first shot at an important on-court role came last Tuesday at Wake Forest. With DeLaurier and Vernon Carey in foul trouble, Robinson produced six points, two rebounds and three blocked shots in 15 minutes against the Demon Deacons.
Duke frittered away a double-digit second-half lead to lose 113-101 in double overtime, knocking the shine off Robinson’s big night.
But Krzyzewski noticed for sure. He told Robinson to expect to get minutes against the Wolfpack.
“You warm up a little different when you know you are coming out there,” Robinson said.
But even before those final warmups, the coaches entrusted Robinson, the longest-tenured current player, with an important job in preparation.
About 30 minutes before tip off, in the locker room, assistant coach Chris Carrawell took a different approach to the final pre-game scouting lesson.
“Chris put words on the board, not a game plan, and then he had J. Rob speak,” Krzyzewski said. “To try to get everyone to have ownership — he’s owned it the longest. What a good story he is of persistence.”
With Duke trailing 20-12, Robinson drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to ignite a comeback. His offensive rebound and slam dunk with 6:47 left until halftime gave the Blue Devils their first lead at 25-23.
Remember, Duke (24-6, 14-5 ACC) never led in its loss at PNC Arena on Feb. 19.
While Justin was doing his thing, his parents sat three rows back from the court at Cameron. His father, The Admiral, clapped, smiled and laughed enjoying it all.
“He’s always so supportive,” Justin said. “He and my mom are always out there. My mom comes to literally every home game. I’m glad I saw them jumping around a little. It was fun.”
It was fun and crucial for the Blue Devils, who needed that unexpected boost to get through whatever was ailing them in recent games.
No one knows if Robinson will start posting these kind of performances throughout this month. But, given his reputation, he’ll be helping Duke in other ways no one outside the lockerroom will see.
That could make his final days in a Duke uniform extra special.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 11:42 PM.