Steve Young knows how hard it is. So do Aaron Rodgers, Kyrie Irving and Andrew Luck.
Replacing a star is one of the most difficult jobs in sports. That’s what Ohio junior guard Shavon Robinson has been tasked with doing this season.
Former Ohio guard Tenishia Benson was the Bobcats’ go-to player this past season, and now she’s gone and graduated. She averaged a team-high 14.5 points per game last season and scored 1,086 points in her college career, which included two years playing for Cincinnati.
“You just have to have poise, and that’s mainly what (Tenishia) had,” Robinson said. “I really admired her for that, her patience, poise and leadership on the court.”
Robinson, who is averaging 12.5 points per game this season, is attempting to replace Benson. Her offensive production is good, but it’s not completely what Ohio coach Semeka Randall is looking for from her top offensive threat.
“(Shavon) has the ability to step up and help our team out,” Randall said. “Her best basketball is ahead of her as long as she’s willing to listen and buy into the system we have for her.”
Randall is doing everything in her power to help her No. 1 scorer realize her potential, as Robinson said she pushes her every day at practice, the message consistently being that the sky is her limit this season.
“Coach Randall tries to instill in me that I can’t be stopped,” Robinson said. “‘Who can stop you?’ She continues to say that to me in practice and games. I start to believe it.”
Robinson has the ability to score — there’s no doubt about that. But sometimes the question of “Who can stop her?” can be answered in one word: herself.
After Ohio’s Nov. 18 loss to the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Randall called Robinson out in a postgame radio interview, explaining that Robinson “played mind games with herself and took herself out of the game” in a 10-point performance. She also said that Robinson and the Bobcats needed time to mature.
Robinson is still learning her role as the floor general, a position that was earned after she averaged 10 points a game last year. Robinson perhaps had her best game of the year Sunday in a loss to Duquesne, pouring in 18 points.
“(Being a leader) is definitely something that almost comes natural,” Robinson said. “But in the past, I’ve had to work on a lot of stuff to become a leader.
Letting it come to me is when it happened, because in the beginning I would try to make things happen instead of letting it come to me.”
The Bobcats’ goals are lofty this season, especially considering the program’s track record during Robinson’s career.
“I’ve got to get to the (Mid-American Conference) Tournament. A season goal is to be MAC champions,” Robinson said.
The Bobcats have lost early in the MAC Tournament in each of Robinson’s two seasons with Ohio. But Robinson aspires to lead her teammates away from their losing ways.
“There is definitely a different vibe with this team,” Robinson said. “We have reached our peak of being tired and frustrated with our losing seasons and making it to the MAC Tournament, but losing in the first round.”
The Bobcats are 1-3 on the year and still climbing that mountain of frustration. However, the season is young, and for there to be a tangible change come conference play, Robinson will have to pick Ohio up by its bootstraps and lead into the postseason with momentum.
Right now, although a MAC Championship seems about as likely as a Mount Everest climb for the Bobcats, Randall and company hope that, with a good guide, even the improbable is possible.
jm296009@ohiou.edu
