WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Monmouth Coach King Rice was searching for talent at a high school basketball tournament in Philadelphia five years ago when he spotted a “little fellow” on an adjacent court who possessed an uncanny knack for penetrating and scoring.
Justin Robinson, a diminutive guard from Kingston High School in Ulster County, N.Y., wove his way inside so many times that his play became riveting to Rice, a former point guard under Dean Smith at North Carolina.
“Maybe we should be watching him,” Rice told an assistant.
Monmouth was the only Division I program to offer Robinson a scholarship.