Nate Robinson, who wowed University of Washington basketball fans from 2003-05 with his amazing athleticism, will be inducted into the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Hall of Honor March 16. Robinson, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, will be enshrined prior to the championship of game of the Pac-12 Tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The 5-foot-8 Robinson, who began his UW career as a freshman cornerback on the football team, made the Pac-10 All-Freshman team in 2003 after transitioning to basketball and developed into one of the premier guards in the league.
He averaged 13.0 points per game as a freshman 13.2 as a sophomore and 16.4 as a junior when he also made the All-Pac-10 first team while leading the Huskies to a 26-7 record and the first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed in school history.
In his final year, Robinson was named third-team Associated Press All-America. Robinson, who scored a career-high 31 points against Arizona Jan. 29, 2004, declared for the NBA draft following his junior season.
Robinson ranks 23rd on the UW’s all-time scoring list with 1,283 points (14.4 ppg) despite playing just three years. He also ranks in UW’s top five for steals.
The Phoenix Suns selected Robinson in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft, 21st overall, and immediately traded him to the New York Knicks. While with the Knicks, Robinson became the only three-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest (2006, 2009 and 2010).
Robinson has also played for the Boston Celtics (2010-11), Oklahoma City Thunder (2011) and Golden State Warriors (2012). Robinson scored an NBA-high 45 points against the Portland Trail Blazers March 8, 2008, in a game in which former teammate Brandon Roy scored 27. Robinson has scored 30 or more points in an NBA game 16 times and has had 10 rebounds in a game three times.
Robinson gained major You Tube fame in November 2006 when he blocked a shot by 7-foot-6 Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.
Joining Robinson in the 2013 Hall of Honor class are Jason Gardner (Arizona), Dennis Hamilton (Arizona State), Shareef Abdur-Rahim (California), Cliff Meely (Colorado), Chuck Rask (Oregon), Charlie Sitton (Oregon State), Ron Tomsic (Stanford), Lucius Allen (UCLA), Forrest Twogood (USC), Keith Van Horn (Utah) and James McKean (Washington State).
Robinson will become the 12th Washington Husky to enter the Pac-12 Hall of Honor, founded in 2002. Other members, with year of induction: Bob Houbregs (2002), Marv Harshman (2003), James Edwards (2004), Jack Nichols (2005), Steve Hawes (2006), Christian Welp (2007), Louie Nelson (2008), Detlef Schrempf (2009), Eldridge Recasner (2010), Todd MacCulloch (2011) and George Irvine (2012).
1 Comment
Interesting to see VanHorn and Meely on the list when neither actually played in the Pac10/12. Not to take away from their careers but their competition was different than the Hall they’re going into.