Following the 2015-2016 season, Florida Gators junior forward Devin Robinson and redshirt junior center John Egbunu were both tasked with the tough decision of whether to leave for the NBA Draft or to stay in Gainesville for another year to improve their draft stock. Their decisions were made quite easy when they both went down with injuries.
Egbunu missed Florida’s final two games last season after undergoing season-ending surgery on a torn ligament in his right thumb. Before that, he averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He also set a program record with 75 dunks last season. Egbunu brought something to the program that had been missing since the departure of Patric Young in 2014, which was a true inside presence on both ends of the floor at center.
Robinson averaged 9.0 points per game last season and 5.6 rebounds, while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor and 34.0 percent from three-point range. He was expected to go early in the second round of the draft before his injury.
Just weeks after submitting his name to be considered for the 2016 NBA Draft, Florida’s health staff discovered Robinson had a stress fracture in his foot. More specifically, a navicular fracture, which has been known to end careers. “Mentally it was really tough,” he said. “Because I tried to put my name in the draft and then knowing that I couldn’t do that and had to come back, it was really tough.”
At first, Robinson struggled with his rehab as he wanted to be out there playing basketball, whether in the NBA or for the Gators. “Physically, it was tough knowing I can’t do certain things that I wanna do,” said Robinson. “I watched workouts on the side and tried to dribble a ball in a chair or shoot in a chair when it was done.”
Teammates and coaches, of course, wanted the best for both Egbunu and Robinson, but they are thrilled to have them back this season. And they should be. Not only does coming back this season give them more time to develop as players, it gives Florida two key playmakers who they would be desperately missing this season had they left.
“If those guys wouldn’t have come back this year, it would’ve been almost like starting over honestly,” said senior guard Kasey Hill. “Those are two of our better players on the team and we really need those guys this year to be good, so it’s great that they came back.”
Head basketball coach Mike White said Egbunu has stuck out as a leader so far in the early practices. “He’s made really good decisions,” said White. “He’s been pretty mentally tough through. He’s carried a lot of weight, and we’ve done a lot of running in these last three days and he’s been right there with the guards in terms of his physical effort. He’s not wearing down. So he’s leading a bunch by example.”
All of the time off in the offseason gave Egbunu plenty of time to work on his body through conditioning, and he said he is feeling like he is in a lot better shape coming into this season. “I’ve just gotta keep improving,” he said.
Junior guard Chris Chiozza has taken notice of Egbunu’s hard work. “He’s added a lot of skill work to his game this summer,” said Chiozza. “He didn’t get to do a lot of workouts at the beginning of the summer, because of his hand, but he really worked on conditioning and stuff so he became in a lot better shape. He dropped a few pounds, he got a little bit more tone to his muscles.”
As far as Robinson, he has tried to turn his return into as much of a positive experience as possible. “After I understood that it might’ve happened for a reason, I just turned it into a positive and tried to work as hard as I can,” he said.
“We had the conversation with Devin, if you want to come back, obviously we’d love to have you back and continue to help you with your development and give you the platform here to continue to improve and continue to be a Gator, and be a productive, successful Gator,” said White. “He’s come back with a great attitude.”
Egbunu is pretty much back to normal as far as his injury status goes, while Robinson is still going through the rehab process. He has participated in practices, but the training staff has urged him to take it slow in order to prevent another injury.
Both players have the potential to be stars for the Gators this season as they continue to develop their games and recover from their injuries.
Hope,they heal up fully and have a great year.