Wan’Dale Robinson is about more than just his astonishing numbers

Wan'Dale Robinson still has a chance to break UK's single-season receptions and receiving yardage records. (UK Athletics Photo)

Wan’Dale Robinson is on the verge of putting his name on top of two University of Kentucky receiving records that have been in place a long time. The former Western Hills High School star had eight catches for a career-high 181 yards in Kentucky’s 56-16 win over New Mexico State Saturday. He now has 85 catches this season which tied Craig Yeast’s 1998 total for second-most in a single season at UK.

The record is 90 catches by James Whalen in 1999 and Robinson could tie or break the mark at Louisville Saturday. If not, he could do it in a bowl game.

Robinson also now has 1,067 receiving yards this season — something only five other UK players had done — and could become the all-time leader if he has two big games. Craig Yeast is 244 yards ahead of him with 1,311 yards receiving in 1998 when Tim Couch was his quarterback.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was not aware after Saturday’s game how close Robinson was to breaking two individual receiving records. But he also noted that the Nebraska transfer has been about much more than just the numbers in his first season with UK.

“I think the biggest thing that you notice with Wan’Dale is that if he has an opportunity to do that (get the record), that would be great, but that’s not his focus or ours,” Stoops said.

“He’s a very unselfish player. He plays better than you think away from the ball when he’s not getting the ball. He plays hard. He’s selfless and he’s a good teammate and practices hard and plays hard.

“So, I think that’s the biggest takeaway. He’s created explosive plays.”