In a come-from-behind victory over cross-town rival King’s on Jan. 20, junior Marcus Robinson reached the impressive 1,000 point plateau on a free-throw at the 6:46 mark of the first half. He becomes the 32nd Colonel in program history to reach this mark in his career.

Robinson, measuring six feet, one inch, out of Swedesboro, N.J., finished the game with 14 points and is averaging 14.8 points per game on the season. Being only a junior and reaching 1,000 points for his college career is a very impressive feat to accomplish.

“It felt really good, my teammates were really pushing for me to get it,” Robinson said. “It was one of the accomplishments that I was looking to get in high school that I just never got, so I’m just glad I got it on the next level.”

For Robinson to reach 1,000 points at the collegiate level is a very impressive feat, especially since he did not do it in high school and he has already accomplished it as a junior. For Robinson to reach this in college, but not high school, shows how much his game has improved since his years spent in high school.

“Practice is really the thing that put me ahead,” Robinson said. “I’ve worked on my jumper, attacking the rim, and ball handling to advance my game to the next level.”

Robinson has also benefited from talented players around him that have helped him reach this milestone.

“My teammates are a huge part of my success,” Robinson said. “They’re the ones that find me open shots. They also have helped with my mental game. They help me get over it if I miss a shot so they’re big in my career.”

Robinson’s teammates were very supportive of him reaching this milestone and he couldn’t ask for better teammates. The Colonels are a tight-knit group that only wants to see everyone succeed, especially when one of them accomplishes something as big as a reaching 1,000 points for their career.

“They really just congratulated me and told me how big of an accomplishment it is,” Robinson said. “They were really supportive, so I appreciate them a lot.”

Having teammates that push him and always have his back really helped him to get to this milestone. Teams that are behind each other like the Colonels back Marcus tend to succeed. The Colonels found themselves in a tie for first place in the MAC Freedom Conference after their win over rival King’s.

The Colonels’ Head Coach Izzi Metz has also had a positive impact on the career of Robinson by trusting him to play, and helping him by putting him in positions to succeed.

“Coach Metz is probably one of the largest individuals that helped me throughout my career,” Robinson said. “He’s helped me grow as a player both physically and mentally.”

Good coaches find ways to bring great things out of good players and Metz has been very good for the Colonels and Robinson. Robinson has put in the work to better himself as a player, but Metz deserves some recognition for how his work with Robinson has paid off.

Metz started coaching at Wilkes University in 2014, and he recruited Robinson to come play for him in 2015. He knew when he recruited him, he could be a very special player for the Colonels.

“The first time I saw him, I was just really impressed how well he competed on both ends of the floor,” Metz said. “The first time I talked to him, he said he takes pride in his defense, he sees himself as a really good defensive player. That excited me because a lot of guys don’t say that. Just how hard he played and how competitive he is.”

There isn’t one day of practice that Metz doesn’t push his players. Day in and day out, he only wants to see them improve and better their game. Robinson works very hard everyday, that Metz doesn’t always have to push him, he usually is able to push himself to get better.

“Marcus never really has a bad practice at Wilkes, you can’t say that about a lot of players, not just here but anywhere. Marcus is one of those guys who’s gonna give his best effort everyday, whether he’s injured, sick. His energy level may at times be a little low cause it’s a long season, but he brings it and leads by example.”

“It felt really good to be in front of the home crowd, especially with that crowd against King’s,” Robinson said. “It was a huge crowd and they really had it rockin’ in the place.”

The Colonels were able to win the game against King’s, so that was also a plus for Robinson to be able to accomplish this feat in a big conference victory.

Robinson will continue to improve his game everyday the rest of this season and help the Colonels try for a MAC Freedom conference championship. This is an accomplishment that everyone on the team is looking to achieve.