Senior point guard leads host Ravenwood into Battle of the Woods

By CAROL STUART
Brentwood Home Page
Ravenwood senior Devin Robinson shared a lot of responsibility last season, but this year he’s carrying a bigger load for the Raptors basketball team.

When RHS plays host to cross-town rival Brentwood in the season’s first Battle of the Woods on Friday night, Robinson’s role as point guard for the Raptors is a key matchup in the game against the Bruins’ Jack Montague, a Yale commit. The girls’ tipoff is at 6 p.m., with the boys game following at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Devin Robinson averages over 17 points a  game for Ravenwood heading into Friday night's battle against visiting Brentwood (File photo by Peg Fredi for BHP)

“Last year I played alongside Evan Forhetz, so we basically were playing two point guards,” Robinson said. “This year we’re really only playing me at the point guard, so I’ve had to adjust getting my teammates the ball more.

“And I’m the only one that brings it up so I’ve had to adjust to that, especially against the press. It’s harder to break the press when there’s only one point guard.”

Robinson has responded to the extra responsibility on the floor this season, though, including stepping up into more of a scoring role as well from the point. He has regularly been scoring about 17 points or more a game.

“I think the biggest difference between last year and this year for him is he’s matured emotionally,” Ravenwood Coach Patrick Whitlock said. “I think some people kind of saw him as a kid that would get too emotionally in the game.

“He’s been a lot more level-headed this year and I think he realizes since we’ve lost all that scoring that he’s had to help our guys, not just in terms of him scoring, but in terms of setting other guys up. So he’s had a really good influence not just emotionally on himself but on the mindset of the rest of the team.”

Robinson, who plays travel ball with Team Nashville, and Montague, on the Tennessee Travelers, have played each other regularly both in AAU and in school ball since their days at Sunset and Brentwood middle schools, respectively.

“In previous summers, we’ve played like three or four times and the battles always go. It’s always split pretty evenly,” Devin said.

“We’ve played together in like pickup ball but we’ve always wanted to [be teammates]. I think it’d be fun. He’s a great shooter, and I can run the floor real well, and I think would be a lot of fun to get a chance to play with him.”

Robinson, likely, however will be charged with trying to stop Montague instead, although Montague didn’t know at lunchtime Thursday whether he would be guarding Devin.

“We’re really good friends off the court, but when we get on the court we’re rivals,” Jack said.

“The first thing will be slowing Devin down a bit, and from there helping on other players. Devin’s a very good ballplayer, very smart, can score the basket, and you have to be aware of where he is on the floor and be smart on defense because he gets a lot of steals.”

Asked to give a scouting report on himself, Robinson said:

“I would say I can get to the hole almost whenever I want. I would say my weakness is my 3-point shot, but I’ve been working on that and it’s getting stronger. Mainly, my biggest strength is getting to the hole, and I think I can also play good defense.”

Like Montague, Robinson began playing basketball fairly early – around 4 or 5 playing in the driveway. While his father Kevin played basketball in high school, he was mainly a football player and played defensive back at North Carolina A&T.  

In middle school, Devin played football – until he broke his arm. “I gave it up after that. I’ve always been a better basketball player so he understood,” he said of his dad.

Now Devin plans to play basketball in college, and he has talked with Division I mid-majors Tennessee State University and MTSU, has an offer from Walters State Community College, and will likely have local NAIA schools recruiting him. He probably will study business in college.

“I like having the ball in my hands, especially late-game situations– just being the floor leader,” he said about why he likes point guard. “It’s the exact same thing as quarterback except I lead us on both offense and defense.

“For example our defense, when we play a 2-3 zone, it’s my job to do a lot of the talking up at the top. … I always liked being the leader and being in control.”

Robinson said his scoring has increased in part to some pick-and-roll plays, but also because of points off his defense when he plays the passing lanes.

“Actually I think my defense has been what’s bumped my scoring about six points from last year,” Devin said.

The Ravenwood playmaker also gets other baskets on transition by beating the other team down the floor for a layup, Whitlock said.

“One thing he’s really good at, if a team scores and we get the ball out quick, he can beat three or four defenders down and answer just like that,” the Raptors coach said. “He hasn’t gotten as much out of our half-court offense as we want, and part of that is he’s rushed some shots here or there.

“I think other coaches will probably say the biggest knock on him is his shooting ability. But if he’s got his feet set and the ball is swung to him and he can catch and shoot, he’s really a pretty good shooter. He hasn’t gotten those opportunities because our ball movement hasn’t been quite what it needed to be.”

Robinson has also carried the burden of dribbling his way out of the press. The Raptors have some ball-handlers on the bench, but they don’t have enough experience yet to really help out, Whitlock said.

Ravenwood won against Hillsboro and Centennial, but lost road games at Independence and Franklin. (File photo by Andrew Skwara for BHP)

“We depend on Devin to break the press, and he is one of those kids that’s kind of rare -- he’s quicker with the basketball than without it,” Whitlock said.

“And no matter who we’re playing, we’re extremely difficult to press because if you give him any amount of space, he’s going to go by you and his speed is by far his biggest asset.”

Brentwood Coach Dennis King said Devin plays about 90 miles an hour and a team has to contain him to be successful against Ravenwood.

“As Devin goes so goes Ravenwood,” King said. “He has an uncanny knack to get to the basket and float those soft little shots high on the backboard, and he's going to get points. And he's just kind of unpredictable and you don't know where he is on defense. He’s quite a concern for us.”

Robinson didn’t play in last year’s first game against Brentwood due to a sprained ankle. He tested it for about 30 seconds against BHS and ended up missing several games with the injury. He also was out of 4-5 games his sophomore year due to a concussion, and he said it’s pretty tough on him to be sidelined.

“If I don’t dribble two or three days in a row, I feel like I’m losing it,” Devin said. “And sitting almost 2 ½ weeks, it was hard to come back and get back. Especially I play really fast, and getting back in shape is always hard for me. This year I hardly ever come out of the game, so it’s hard for me to get back in shape when you’ve taken that much time off.”

While Robinson is the only RHS starter returning, Andy Moore played a lot last year and has been playing well again and the team’s post players, Joey Barnes and J.P. Liederbach, have also stepped up this season, Devin said.

“I don’t know if anyone has a frontcourt as big as them,” Devin said. “When they want to play like they can, they can’t really be stopped. We’ve got good pieces coming off the bench this year, too.”

Robinson said he thinks the first game against Brentwood is big for momentum this season because BHS won all three meetings last year – when Ravenwood was supposed to be the better team – and RHS went 3-0 the previous season when the Bruins were supposed to be better.

“Well, we obviously hope that trend continues,” Whitlock said, “because Brentwood on paper just has a tremendous team. I think if Brentwood doesn’t make the state tournament this year, it would be a major disappointment for them. They’ve got inside guys, they’ve got outside guys, they’ve got experience, they've got transfers that became eligible which is great for them.”

However, the Raptors coach said he didn’t want to place too much emphasis on the first game because he hoped the teams would meet four times – twice in the regular season, and again in the district and region tournaments.

Related story: Montague an extra coach for Bruins

“It’s a rivalry game and it would go a long way for our confidence, but that being said, we’d have to play a perfect game to beat them. They are loaded,” Whitlock said.

After getting off to a hot start this season, Ravenwood dropped to 2-2 in the district after losing back-to-back games to Independence last Friday and to Franklin on Tuesday. Prior to Tuesday’s defeat, Whitlock said it would be hard to remain a factor in the district race with two defeats.

“I think they're going to be extra dangerous because of their last two games,” King said. “It's a must win for them and it's on their floor, and we're just going to have take care of business.”

Whitlock said the Bruins will run a lot of screens on the baseline for the low-post players and some pick-and-rolls: “If you don’t defend that the right way, you almost have to pick your poison and hope one of them’s off. That’s really the bottom line.

Robinson, meanwhile, said while his duel with Montague is a big one, he thinks there will be other important matchups to watch: Brentwood’s Asa Duvall, a transfer from Brentwood Academy, against Moore, and BHS junior forward Cody Shelton, just back from a knee injury, against Barnes and Liederbach.

“This game Friday will be a big game and I can’t wait for it,” Devin said. “I think it’ll be a great game, and it’ll be a crazy atmosphere.”