Mitchell Robinson not expected to play college hoops at all this season

Former Western Kentucky signee Mitchell Robinson, who recently visited Kansas, New Orleans and LSU, is not expected to play college basketball this season, Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde wrote Tuesday night.

Forde’s update follows a similar item from Jon Rothstein of Fanragsports.com, who on Sunday wrote that Robinson, a 7-foot, 220-pound McDonald’s All-American out of Chalmette (La.) High School, was considering working out on his own during the 2017-18 school year in preparation for the 2018 NBA Draft.

“One source familiar with Robinson’s recruitment said he has not been in contact with Kansas since last Thursday and another source said New Orleans has been informed that the 7-footer does not plan to join the Privateers and instead will work out in preparation for the draft. Classes for the fall semester began at UNO last week and at Kansas on Monday,” Forde wrote Tuesday night. Sources had told The Star on Saturday that KU had not had contact with Robinson the last couple of days.

“Even if he were to attend college, Robinson likely would have to sit out the 2017-18 season as a transfer. An attempt to gain a waiver for immediate eligibility based on the short duration of time he spent at WKU would be difficult to win,” Forde wrote Tuesday.

Zagsblog.com wrote earlier Tuesday that Robinson had eliminated New Orleans as a possible option for the upcoming season following a “long meeting” Monday night with UNO coach Mark Slessinger.

Will Guillory of the New Orleans Times Picayune also wrote Tuesday night that Robinson “had informed UNO he won’t be enrolling at the school. Expected to sit out and prepare for the 2018 Draft.”

Robinson received his release from his Western Kentucky letter of intent after participating in two weeks of summer practices with the Hilltoppers, who were preparing for a summer trip to Costa Rica. Because he did practice, he would need a waiver to play for another Division I school without having to sit out a season. He’s expected to be a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Robinson, who averaged 20.9 points, 13.6 rebounds and 8.1 blocks a game during his senior season at Chalmette, has not publicly commented on his situation in several days. He did not respond on Twitter to Tuesday’s developments as of 8:30 p.m.

Graham still ranked 11th

Kansas senior guard Devonté Graham remains the country’s 11th best player entering the 2017-18 season, according to ESPN.com.

The top 25 player list, first released by reporter John Gasaway in May, has been revised following the decision of Marvin Bagley to switch from the recruiting class of 2018 to ’17 and play for Duke this season.

Bagley is No. 1, followed by Duke’s Grayson Allen, Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, St. Mary’s Jock Landale, Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton, Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and Arizona’s Allonzo Trier. Graham also was No. 11 when the rankings came out on May 30.

“There’s been a lot of buzz out of Lawrence this offseason about Mississippi State transfer Malik Newman, and it will be both ironic and good news for KU fans if the outstanding Graham is occasionally overshadowed by his teammate after having played alongside last season’s national player of the year (Frank Mason),” Gasaway wrote. “Bill Self’s senior hits shots, cherishes the rock and defends. The Jayhawks’ season will rise or fall in part on how well Newman mimics all of the above behaviors (of Graham).”

Newman did not make ESPN.com’s top 25 player list.

West Virginia’s Jevon Carter checked in at No. 12, Wichita State’s Landry Shamet at No. 16 and Texas’ Mohamed Bamba at No. 19.

3-on-3 tourney at Final Four

College basketball seniors whose teams do not reach the 2018 Final Four will be eligible to play in a $100,000 winner take all 3-on-3 tournament sponsored by Intersport Marketing March 30 to April 1 at the Final Four in San Antonio.

Teams would consist of four players from select conferences that would meet in a bracket format. With four players on each team, each senior on the winning team would receive $25,000.

Players would not be subject to NCAA sanctions in playing for money because they’d have used up their collegiate eligibility.

“As with their three-point shooting contest and dunk contest, this event is not associated with the NCAA or the Final Four,” NCAA director of media coordination David Worlock told CBS Sports on Tuesday. “That’s the only comment we have at this time.”

Intersport does indeed put together the slam dunk and three point contests at the Final Four.

In explaining the event, Intersport vice president of sports properties Drew Russell told CBSsports.com: “The game of 3-on-3 basketball continues to gain momentum thanks to its recent addition to the Olympics in 2020 and further development at the professional and grassroots levels. Based on our storied and successful history of creating and producing live college events for more than 30 years, Intersport is perfectly positioned to bring 3-on-3 basketball to the college game. We’ve been in the planning stages for months and are excited to bring this new and exciting opportunity to market for the very first time.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Mitchell Robinson not expected to play college hoops at all this season."