Inter Miami CF rookie forward Robbie Robinson has been named the 2020 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) male athlete of the year across all sports. The first-overall 2020 MLS SuperDraft pick becomes the first soccer player to win the Anthony J. McKevlin Award and only the third Clemson University athlete to win it since its inception in 1954. Robinson joins the ranks of legendary figures like Michael Jordan, and recent standouts such as Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson and Zion Williamson.
“It feels great to be the ACC men’s athlete of the year. It shows all the hard work that me and my team put in over at Clemson and the great coaching that I had there and it shows great improvement from my Freshman year to my Junior year. It feels amazing,” said Robinson. “You see the names that have won the award, they’re all top, elite athletes of their game. It’s such a great honor to be included among those people and I hope to have along the same careers as they do and be very successful.”
Robinson starred for the Clemson Tigers in the ACC last season, topping the scoring charts in NCAA Division I with 18 goals in just 19 games. He also finished in the top 10 in assists with nine to his name.
“I owe a lot to Clemson,” he added. “My coaching staff there was very good with Mike Noonan as my head coach. He taught me a lot throughout the years: discipline, responsibility. Also to my teammates, I couldn’t have done it without them, it’s a great group of guys.”
He won the 2019 MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top college soccer player, and First Team All-American and ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors for his final season at the university before being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by Inter Miami.
“Winning this award is going to help me to keep improving and help Inter Miami. Winning motivates me,” he said. “Winning anything makes me want to work harder and get more.”
Robinson was also named Clemson University Male Athlete of the Year on May 1, another on his extensive list of accolades for his time in college.
