Lee Robinson has already made a big impact for Westside on the basketball court. The freshman has the potential to be the best player for the Warriors and his trajectory is high after summer basketball for both the Warriors and for ETG midwest, one of the best summer basketball teams that have produced great Warriors such as Caleb Benning, CJ Mitchell and teammate Donnie Barfield.
In the first regular season games of the year for Robinson, a transfer out of Jesuit Academy, has shown that he will be a force to be reckoned with. Even with his six foot frame he has been described as explosive and one of the best scoring threats on the Westside team. Coming into the season, Robinson already had a college offer from California State Northridge in Los Angeles. Coach Jim Simons talks about the big jump from junior high to senior high.
“Lee is a very talented player,” Simons said. “it’s just a big jump going from playing against eighth graders, to playing against 11th and 12th graders, and then you have to have the confidence and the mindset to be able to do it.”
Already in the first couple of games Robinson is the starting point guard and is running the offense like he is a senior. In his first two games on varsity he is averaging 12 points per game including a team leading 18 in a win over Bellevue East. He is also averaging 3.5 assists per game and all of this on a pretty efficient 57% shooting. Robinson has also been a really effective passer, even with Westside running a fast paced offense Robinson usually finds someone while driving when he doesn’t have a shot which makes both him and Westside very effective at driving the ball then kicking it out for an open three.
“I just go out and have fun,” Robinson said. “I try to be the best on the court and my teammates allow me to do that.”
Westside was the pre-season number five coming into the season but with some top teams losing in the first weeks of the season Westside has a really good shot to jump to number one with the early help of Robinson. The Warriors have started the year 4-0 with two bigs wins over the defending state champion Bellevue West and Skutt while winning the A/B early season classic tournament. Westside does have a tough road ahead to end 2024, playing a very underrated Millard West team and playing in the metro holiday tournament, but Westside has played great basketball over the first four games catapulting their way to number one for the first time this season.
“We got a new experienced team coming into the season,” Robinson said. “We worked hard in practice and we just have been waiting for our moment all season.”
Robinson has lots of parts of his game that work well with Westside’s run and gun offense. He can score from all three levels of the floor, he has good hands and averaging three steals a game and plays solid defense for a point guard being one of the first players back on a fast break.
“It’s very fun on this team,” Robinson said. “It’s a good experience for me and I’m very excited for what the season brings for us.”
Robinson is the catalyst for a relatively young Westside team with only four seniors on the team. With the Warriors length it forces teams to play down low while Robinson plays high and reaps the rewards, But even though it’s year one for Robinson he has lots of time to develop into a superstar for this Westside team and be a threat not only for Westside but also at the collegiate level.
“What has impressed me the most about Lee is his basketball IQ,” Simons said. “He picks things up really well, and he just doesn’t speed up on him like it does for most high school freshmen playing at this level.”
