Former Duke walk-on turned Blue Devils staffer heads to the NBA
A former walk-on for the Duke Blue Devils, who took a role on Jon Scheyer’s staff, is now headed to the big league
The Duke Blue Devils have grown accustomed to their elite players taking their talents to the next level. I mean, this year alone, the entire starting five heard their names called during the two rounds of the 2025 NBA Draft.
However, it isn’t every day that a former walk-on for the Blue Devils gets to share that he is headed to the next level, too.
Former Duke walk-on Justin Robinson (yes, the very one who Coach Krzyzewski was an even better version of Notre Dame’s Rudy Ruettiger) took a role on current head coach Jon Scheyer’s staff as his Director of Player Development.
Now, Robinson is joining JJ Reddick, yet another former Blue Devil, in LA to take on a similar role for the Los Angeles Lakers.
During his playing career, which spanned from 2016 until 2020, Robinson was finally finding his footing during his senior season. He even started in a game for Duke and earned the 2020 Tedd E. Mann award at the end of the year.
Justin Robinson college career stats
55 games played (1 start)
1.6 points per game
1.5 rebounds per game
0.5 blocks per game
0.2 assists per game
0.1 steals per game
While none of his stats were ever jaw-dropping, Robinson became a leader on and off the court during his tenure for the Blue Devils, which reflected in his opportunity to take on a role under Scheyer.
Robinson wasn’t selected during the 2020 NBA Draft, a year that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, since his playing career at Duke ended, he has spent five seasons playing overseas.
Since 2020, he has kept his name on KK Mornar Bar’s roster, a team based in Montenegro. He has also hopped to other teams to bolster his salary, including Podgorica in Montenegro as well as Maccabi Ra’anana and Elitzur Netanya, both based in Israel.
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