Back in 2004, Russell Robinson, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard from Rice High School in New York, N.Y., signed with Kansas over Connecticut, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Syracuse.

Robinson, the No. 27 ranked player in the 2004 class, visited Kansas during the weekend of September 27, 2003 and verbally committed to Bill Self and the Jayhawks on October 14, 2003. Robinson was joined by C.J. Giles, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, and Alex Galindo.

While Giles and Galindo started out at Kansas, both ultimately ended up playing elsewhere to finish their careers. By the time Robinson, Kaun and Jackson left Kansas in 2008, they did so as National Champions of the College Basketball world.

During the final three years of his career, Robinson appeared in 110 games, scored 865 points, pulled down 331 rebounds, dished out 475 assists, and was credited with 228 steals. In 3,085 minutes played, he connected on 40.7 percent of his field goals, 32.7 percent of his shots from behind the arc, and 72.5 percent of his free-throws.

In the final game of his career, a win against Memphis in the 2008 National Championship game, Robinson, in 20 minutes of action, scored two points, pulled down four rebounds, dished out one assist, and was credited with one steal.

Back in the states due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), JayhawkSlant.com caught up with Russell Robinson on Friday night.

“I’m in Carolina right now, but I was in New York up until February,” Russell Robinson told JayhawkSlant.com. “During my time back home, I got to see Coach (Danny) Manning, Coach (Tim) Janvovich, and Coach (Joe) Dooley coach. I was able to see how much they’ve grown as coaches over the past 10 years.

“I saw ECU vs, SMU,” he added. “ECU upset SMU at the buzzer to win the game, and it was a very exciting game. Then I got to see Wake Forest beat Duke in overtime. That was a great game too. I could really picture myself out there coaching. Those guys haven’t aged a bit and they all look and act the same, which brought back some epic KU vibes.”

Robinson, it would appear, has a decision to make when it comes to his future. Playing the game of basketball has always been a passion, but having played all over the world since leaving Kansas in 2008, the former five-star prospect might be ready for a change.

“Yea, I took the year off,” said Robinson. “I’ve been spending time with family and trying to figure out what I want to do. I’m trying to get some stuff in order, and the right offer didn’t come. It was on its way, but then the pandemic hit.

“When the pandemic hit, it just wasn’t going to work out,” he added.

Since graduating from Kansas in 2008, the game of basketball has taken Robinson on an unforgettable ride all across the world. There isn’t much, if anything, that he hasn’t seen during his professional career.

“I started off in Spain,” said Robinson. “I went from Spain to France and from France I went to Turkey. Once I was done playing in Turkey, I made the move to Italy and then to Poland. I played in Poland for three years and then I went to Lebanon. When I was done in Lebanon, I went back to Poland and then to Greece. After Greece, I went to Macedonia and then to Bulgaria.

“I’ve been everywhere,” he added. “Back in 2008, 2009, and 2010, it was different. “Technology wasn’t like it is today. You had Skype, but as far as streaming movies and stuff like that, you pretty much had to save it on your hard drive. At the time, DVDs had restrictions. If you had a DVD from the states, you couldn’t play in over there.

“Technology took a while to catch-up,” he continued. “At first, it was really tough, and then Europe wasn’t all the way caught-up to being Americanized. It was an adjustment, but you wanted to play at the highest level that you could, so it was worth it.”

Before beginning his professional career, Robinson spent four years playing for Bill Self and the University of Kansas. After losing to Bradley, Bucknell, and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament his first three years, Robinson and the Jayhawks finally got over the hump in 2008.

Kansas finished the season with a record of 37-3 and 13-3 in the Big 12. That season, the Jayhawks lost at Kansas State, at Texas, and at Oklahoma State. Following the loss to the Cowboys, Self’s squad rattled off 13-straight victories.

Obviously, it was an experience that Robinson will never forget.

“I wouldn’t even say that there were highs and lows,” he said. “One, there were a lot of factors that went into that whole year being special. First, we had paid our dues. I lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament my first two years, so I had paid my dues. I felt that it was our time and I felt like the team the year before was good enough to win it, but we didn’t.

“It was my senior year and it was my last run, so I knew we could get it done,” he added. “The football team playing well, that really took a lot of the media attention off of us. You know, we had so so-so games where we won by 15 points, but we probably should have won by 25 points. It didn’t really receive much media attention, because the football team was playing so well.

“The football team playing so well also brought a buzz around campus,” he continued. “There was a really good feeling around campus. Everybody was in a good mood. The buzz on campus was positive and we just kind of went under the radar. That year, the football won the Orange Bowl, and that’s when the spotlight got on us.”

After starting out the season 20-0, Kansas dropped its first game at Kansas State. The Jayhawks rebounded by winning their next three games, but fell at Texas for loss No. 2. Kansas went on to defeat Colorado before losing at Oklahoma State, 61-60. It ended up being the final loss of the season.

“We could play the Kansas State game 10 more times, and we’d lose nine of them,” he said. “There is no way we were going to win that game. That game, they came out and played the best game they could have played and deserved to win. Texas, we just had a tough time winning at Texas. I never won a game at Texas. Kansas has had some tough losses at Texas. Even before I got to Kansas, they’ve had some tough losses.

“Then there was the Oklahoma State game,” he added. “Oklahoma State probably has the loudest gym in the Big 12. They came to play that day. That kind of hit home for Coach Self, because that’s kind of his backyard. After that one, that’s kind of when he put his foot down. Coach Self told us that Kansas State played an unbelievable game, he understood that we have tough games at Texas, but against Oklahoma State, we can’t have that. That’s where the foot went down, long video session, maybe a little yelling to get us all in tune, get everybody in-line, and I’m sure there were a couple of meetings to the office for a couple of guys.

“After that, it was all set,” he continued. “That’s when we ran the table from there.”

The 2007-08 team closed out the season with wins over Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Texas, Portland State, UNLV, Villanova, Davidson, North Carolina and, in the National Championship game, Memphis.

Robinson, during a phone interview with JayhawkSlant.com on Friday night, remembered KU’s run to the National Championship like it was yesterday.

“In the NCAA Tournament, the first-round game always has the most pressure,” he said. “We came out and played pretty well against, I believe, Portland State. We played pretty well and got the jitters out. The second-round game was against UNLV, which was a good game. They came out and played really well and had some tough guards. I think Sherron Collins stepped up and played well.

“Villanova, you know, there is some history there,” he added. “There was a little New York background history. I think Mario Chalmers had some history there with the USA team and the coach from Villanova (Jay Wright), so everybody had some motivation that game. We wanted to really get that one done. The hardest one, all of the six games, was the one against Davidson and Steph Curry.

“The pressure came from, we had seen Memphis beat Texas, so at that point, all of the No. 1 seeds had it to the Final Four,” he continued. “We had the whole country rooting against us, because of Steph Curry and his epic run. We won by one or two points, so that was the toughest game, especially with all of the pressure.”

From that point on, there was no turning back. Kansas, having dodged a bullet from Steph Curry and Davidson, had its sights set on winning its first National Championship since 1988. The hardest part, according to Robinson, was now behind them.

“Once we got to the Final Four, it was a cakewalk,” he said. “Not a cakewalk, but the pressure was gone and we made it. All of the top seeds made it and we are here. Now we can just go out and play, and that’s what we showed in our first game against North Carolina.

“The Memphis game, we positioned ourselves to be there,” he added. “We believed that Derrick Rose and those guys were good and talented, but they were freshmen. You know, we had paid our dues and it was our turn.”

Down by nine points with a little more than two minutes left in the game, it looked like KU’s dream season was on the verge of becoming a nightmare. Memphis, at the time, appeared to be in complete control and was in position to slam the door shut on Self and the Jayhawks.

However, Kansas stunned Memphis with a game tying three as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The Jayhawks took control of the Tigers early on in the overtime session and never looked back.

Once overtime started, Kansas knew its fate was sealed.

“I think Coach Self said, and I’m also sure the exact quote was, ‘We got this,’” he said. “In overtime, the momentum had totally shifted. I think he said that to relax us, but we still had to do our job in overtime. Coach Self told us we had the game, or whatever words he said, he just reassured us that this is meant to be and this is our chance to take it.”

“My thing was, I wanted to go somewhere to win a National Championship,” he added. “That was a big part of my decision. I could have gone to Kentucky or Georgia Tech or UCONN, but KU, when I came out, had the No. 1 ranked recruiting class and we were preseason No. 1. I felt that was the best chance for me to win a National Championship.”

Like a majority of the population, life, to a certain degree, has been placed on hold for Robinson. Ultimately, he made the decision to take a year off to spend time with family in New York, take-in some college basketball games, and above all else, think about his next move in life.

For the longest time, Robinson has lived his life on a basketball court. From playing hoops as a young boy to the New York Gauchos, to Rice High School, to Kansas and beyond, basketball has always played an important role in his life.

Now, Robinson is considering a change. No, he isn’t giving up the game of basketball, but rather thinking about removing himself as a player and becoming a coach.

“I definitely want to coach,” he said. “I want to coach at the highest level and I feel like I can have an impact on the lives of 18 to 22 (age range), that range. Whether you play basketball or not, just to be able to influence guys at that level, I feel that’s important.

“That’s the part of life I want to be in and experience,” he added. “When I was watching the games, none of my player instincts had me wanting to get out there and play again. I got to watch Kansas and Duke, and I didn’t get any of those vibes where I wanted to get out and play. I want to get out there and coach.

“I want to draw up some plays or help draw up some plays,” he continued. “I want to draw up some plays and some defensive schemes, and that’s kind of what has been clicking all year.”