Nate Robinson

Nate Robinson is only 5f7 ¾", but listed at 5f9 and dunking in the NBA. He won the NBA dunk contest. He also blocked 7f6 Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. He has made me work harder on my hops.

When he was in eighth grade, he was 5Œ 1, maybe 5Œ 2. His mom had bought him one of those goals that you could move up and down. He dunked at nine feet, but he couldn't dunk at 10. But he kept getting closer and closer. Then one day at lunch time at McClure Middle School in Seattle, the adrenaline was rushing and finally he did it... Everybody was cheering.

So far that season with the Washington Huskies Robinson, a junior, has made a strong case for being named the best player in college basketball. Already recognized as one of the quickest point guards in the country, he was a paragon of efficiency in leading the Huskies to a 5-1 record at week's end, including consecutive wins over Utah, Oklahoma and Alabama in the Great Alaska Shootout, where he was named the tournament's outstanding player. Robinson was averaging 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game while shooting 55.3% from the floor and 53.6% from the three-point line. He had 34 assists against 12 turnovers and had made 29 of 36 free throws. In the unofficial team stats of charges taken and loose balls corralled, he was the team's runaway leader. Alas, no one has yet built a thrill-o-meter to measure the jolt Robinson gives a crowd with his improbable dunks and authoritative rebounds.

"Nate is the best competitor in college basketball," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who saw Robinson score a team-high 22 points (including four of eight three-pointers) in the Huskies' 99-87 loss to the Bulldogs at Spokane on Dec. 1. "He has a huge heart, and he competes on every play, and I think that's contagious for his team. People assume that's commonplace, but it's hard to find. It's hard to find in the NBA."