ORLANDO, Fla. — Duce Robinson landed in Arizona at 1 a.m. local time Thursday after returning from the Under Armour All-America Game.
He was back at Pinnacle High School like normal first thing in the morning. His first basketball game of the season is Friday afternoon. That’s only the start of what figures to be a hectic two months for the Class of 2023 five-star tight end.
He’s off to Los Angeles for a workout with the Dodgers on Jan. 16, then heads straight to Hawaii for the Polynesian Bowl on Jan. 20. He returns to Arizona briefly and then it’s back to Los Angeles again in early February for the Area Code Select baseball game.
So when Robinson, who doubles as a top baseball prospect, said last week at the Under Armour All-America Game that he’d like to take several more unofficial visits before making a final decision, his father couldn’t help but laugh.
“Me and my wife keep saying to each other, ‘He’s insane. I have no clue where he thinks he’s gonna squeeze these trips in,’” Dominic Robinson said. “I have no clue what Duce was talking about. He has zero time.
“But I will say this as his parent: If he needs to go somewhere to help him make his decision, then we’ll make that happen.”
Such is life for Duce these days, who is arguably the most unique recruit in his class.
— Duce Robinson (@Ducerobinson2) January 3, 2023
At 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, Robinson is one of the most impressive pass-catching tight end prospects in the country despite not playing a full season of varsity football until last year. Baseball was always his first love — he’s a power-hitting outfielder with speed that lights up the basepaths — but that didn’t stop Arizona State from offering him his first football scholarship when he was in the eighth grade.
Now, Robinson seems to be down to four schools, where he plans to play both sports: Alabama, USC, Georgia and Texas. He has already taken an official visit to all four schools, and he’s also flirting with the idea of an unofficial visit to Oregon, which, again, made Dominic chuckle.
He’s the type of prospect that schools are willing to wait for.
“I’m friends with one of the guys at Oregon and he texted me, ‘Hey, man, is that true?’” said Dominic, who played football and baseball at Florida State. “And I’m like, ‘I have no clue.’ Duce drives the process. It’s his deal.
“If he says to me tomorrow, ‘Hey, I need to go to Oregon tomorrow,’ we’ll get him to Oregon tomorrow. But based on his current schedule, I have no clue where he’s gonna squeeze in another visit anywhere.”
Robinson — whose mother, Mary Beth, swam at Florida — said last week at the Under Armour event that he doesn’t necessarily have a timeline for his decision and will announce when it feels right, even if it extends beyond national signing day Feb. 1. All signs point to him playing both sports in college rather than heading straight to professional baseball.
“I want to play both sports professionally,” Duce said. “So I think we’ve narrowed it down to schools that these coaches have proven that they can do it. That they’ve done it before with kids.
“We’re trying to find the school where I can get developed in both sports to be a major athlete in both sports.”
Despite his status as a top-20 national prospect, Robinson has managed to keep a low profile throughout the process as he sorts through his options.
Georgia boosted its stock thanks to an official visit in September. Relationships will be Robinson’s top criteria, he said, and the Bulldogs seemed to have set the bar high in that regard.
“You take unofficials and everything over the summer to these workouts and stuff, but a lot of times, the guys are gone or they’re not really practicing or anything,” he said. “So to feel that culture in the locker room, that atmosphere, those guys really love each other. … Coach Smart has created that culture to where those guys, they’re selfless.”
Texas’ appeal is coach Steve Sarkisian’s creative offense, plus the possibility of catching passes from five-star quarterback Arch Manning, whom Robinson said he texts with regularly.
At USC, Robinson has built close relationships with five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson and five-star wide receivers Zachariah Branch and Makai Lemon, in addition to his long-standing relationship with Lincoln Riley from Riley’s Oklahoma days.
“No, no. I still love USC,” Robinson said last week, asked if his interest in the Trojans had waned. “That’s probably the class I’m closest with in terms of relationships I have with guys.”
And Alabama is, well, Alabama.
“They’ve got a proven path of getting kids into the NFL,” Robinson said. “It’s a factor.”
Robinson said three of his four de facto finalists offered him a scholarship in baseball before they offered him in football, which proved to him that programs are serious about him on the diamond and wouldn’t be taking him just as a favor to the football team. USC was the lone finalist to offer him in football first, although newly hired baseball coach Andy Stankiewicz started building a relationship with Robinson while he was still at Grand Canyon University.
✌🏾 for ✌🏾 @ACBaseballGames @Ducerobinson2 pic.twitter.com/rcJTZzjYGJ
— 3D SPORTS PERFORMANCE (@3DRobinson) August 8, 2022
A few baseball sites list Robinson as a right-handed pitcher in addition to his duties as an outfielder, but make no mistake, Dominic says, his son is most definitely not a pitcher. Dominic, who coaches Duce in travel baseball, sent his son out to pitch once last summer in a largely meaningless game. When Duce’s team scored four runs in the top of the first inning, Dominic figured a victory was on the way. Then Duce gave up five runs in the bottom of the inning, including a solo home run, a three-run shot and a double in the gap.
“He’s a horrible pitcher and (aside from that outing) he hasn’t pitched since he was, like, 12,” Dominic said, laughing. “You can’t even squint and see it. He’s not a pitcher.”
He is, however, a power hitter whose speed on the football field is just as evident on the basepaths.
“The best, best athletes in terms of speed and athleticism aren’t playing baseball. And so that’s what he brings to the game. … He’s absolutely a terror on the bases,” Dominic said.
“A couple months ago at the Area Codes Games, Duce tagged from third base on a fly ball to third base and scored. … I love that play so much.”
One of the misconceptions about Robinson, Dominic said, is that baseball is an afterthought to football. In reality, Duce didn’t start playing football until he was 15 years old, but he had a baseball bat in his hand as soon as he learned to walk.
Trimming his list of schools got easier once he realized who was — and wasn’t — serious about baseball.
But football is obviously very important, and that is the program that will be paying his scholarship.
He likes the way each of his finalists have used their tight ends and raved about Georgia’s scheme when asked about star Brock Bowers.
“In terms of their scheme, they’re looking for ways to get 12- and 13-personnel on the field, and I think all of their tight ends complement each other very well,” he said. “They don’t have two guys that are the same exact tight end, which is why they’re able to use so many tight ends on the field at one time. So if I were to go to Georgia, I think all of us are a little bit different in our own unique ways.”
Pinnacle High School coach Dana Zupke, who also coached Oklahoma-turned-South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler, said Robinson has lived up to every bit of hype expected from him. Per MaxPreps, he caught 84 passes for 1,614 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022.
“He’s fantastic,” Zupke said. “He’s still learning how to play the game, really.”
In the meantime, college football will await his decision. So will college baseball.
“To be honest, I’m just as interested as all you guys,” Dominic said. “The thing is, there’s no bad choice. He’s gonna make a good decision.”
(Photo courtesy of Under Armour All-America Game)
