Coach K: Justin Robinson knows the most on our team

Captain is contributing on court and as off-court leader

Justin Robinson will play his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Tar Heels on Saturday night. The senior captain hasn’t played much, but he’s emerged as a team leader.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has said in the past that he thinks Robinson would make a good coach and hopes he’ll stay with the program after his playing days are done to eventually take a place on the Duke staff. Robinson is already doing a lot of coaching and teaching with his current teammates.

“I think they’ve already learned a lot from him,” Krzyzewski said, “because he knows the most on our team. He knows every play. He knows people. He knows them. He knows how to talk to them as a group or as an individual. I think overall, they’ve learned what it is to have an amazing friend, and then they’re so happy for him with the success he’s had, because he works every day.”

After spending much of his career on the bench, Robinson has emerged as a key contributor in the last month of his senior year, while still helping out as a practice player. He scored 10 points in the last game, Monday against NC State, hitting a pair of three-pointers.

“The day before the (NC) State game, he was doing our scout team,” Krzyzewski said. “He knows their plays. He knows ours. Our guys, I’d like to just know ours. They wouldn’t get all A’s, let’s put it that way, but he would get an A-plus.”