INDIANAPOLIS — A basketball star in the making, Azavier Robinson is making waves amongst college scouts, but perhaps the most compelling thing about him isn't who he is on the court, but off.
Robinson will tell you, he's just like everyone else with a gift of the game.
“My brothers and my dad inspired me – growing up watching them play,” Robinson told WRTV. The junior says he’s had a basketball in his hand for as long as he could remember. He said when he is on the court he feels “free.”
“I feel relaxed on the court – my mind is at ease,” said Robinson or “Stink” as he is known by. He said it’s a nickname that he got when he was little, and it hasn’t left him. Robinson wears number “23” on the court, like Michael Jordan did.
“I got offers from IU – Butler – Notre Dame,” Robinson added. He says he has more than 20 college offers. Robinson’s goal is to provide for his family.
“Definitely knowing that I could possibly put my family in different positions that nobody had before,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he got his first offer when he was in the 8th grade. The school? IUPUI. “It was right after my grandma had passed away, so it motivated me to keep going, my momma and I cried that day,” Robinson told WRTV.
On and off the court he will tell you that he is guided by his family. Robinson’s dad rarely misses a game. Gus’s life hasn’t always been easy. “A better question would be what haven’t I been through,” Gus told WRTV.
He says he was shot several times and Azavier’s older brother was shot as well, according to Gus. “He got shot 5 times within a half mile radius of where I got shot 5 times,” Gus added. But Gus says those incidents changed him for the better.
“My son changed my life with me and my family, having to be so focused, with me trying to make sure they don’t go down the path that I did,” Gus added.
Now he is using what he faced growing up as a teaching moment for on and off the court for his son and the rest of his family.
“Just wake up with a positive mindset that I’m going to be great one day,” Robinson concluded.
