Mark Pope describes how Kentucky players handled Jaxson Robinson surgery news

The Kentucky Wildcats knew they’d be without Jaxson Robinson for the remainder of the season before losing to the Auburn Tigers on Saturday. However, after the game was when head coach Mark Pope delivered the bad news. He needed surgery.

Now, Kentucky is looking to find a way to move on without him. That won’t be easy but the Wildcats looked good on Tuesday night when taking on the LSU Tigers. So, while Pope knows it won’t be easy, he also knows that his team is going to come together and move forward.

“We had a really trying — just all the emotions you could imagine — post Oklahoma,” Mark Pope said. “So, it was a late game central time. We finished the game and then, you know, get back at 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock in the morning and are dealing with the emotion of that game.  The emotion of Jax’s news, which we all didn’t really get to get final answers on until the next day, but all suspected.”

Jaxson Robinson is a fifth-year senior. He’s previously made stops at Texas A&M, Arkansas, and BYU. During his two years with BYU, he was coached by Mark Pope, and chose to follow him to Kentucky for this season. However, he’s battled a wrist injury and that ultimately derailed his season. Still, in 24 games this season, he’s averaged 13 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.

“And then run right into Auburn in an early game. That was a super tumultuous time and there was just so much.  And then we ran right into tonight. I think, the guys are devastated for him and really sad for us because he is such a massive part of this team. At the same time resolved that, we know what we have today,” Pope said. “And we are going to try to find a way to win with what we have today. Jax, these guys love Jax so much and Jax loves these guys so much and they’ve been on an epic journey together. It’s hard to make sense of why he doesn’t get a chance to finish this with these guys. It’s really brutal.”

Certainly, Mark Pope is right that the loss of Jaxson Robinson was an emotional one for the team. That includes Koby Brea, who recently shared his own thoughts on the loss.

“He’s an amazing human being, so I hate to see him go down like that. Had to play his last (college) game without even knowing it,” Brea said.

“It’s super unfortunate. Nobody wants to see somebody go down like that, especially somebody like him. He’s obviously one of our brothers. We’re a family, so it hurts seeing that and understanding what he has to go through. I kind of had to go through something similar too so I know what it feels like. The best thing we can do is be there for those tough times.”

Kentucky has one regular season game remaining this season on Saturday against the Missouri Tigers. After that, the Wildcats will begin their postseason with the SEC Tournament.