Plano East prodigy Arianna Robinson was named The Dallas Morning News All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season after leading Plano East to the state semifinals for the first time.
The state’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2028 has been even better as a sophomore this season.
Robinson, a four-star guard, is averaging 25.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists for a 20-7 team that is ranked No. 20 in the state in Class 6A. The 5-10 Robinson, who is rated the 12th-best player in the nation by espnW, has made 41 3-pointers to help Plano East start 8-0 in District 6-6A and build a two-game lead over Prosper Rock Hill and Allen going into Tuesday’s games.
Robinson scored 40 points last week in a 67-53 win over McKinney and followed that with 28 points in a 55-48 win over Allen. Through her first 20 games of the season, Robinson scored 19 or more in every game but one, and that included games of 39 points against Rock Hill, 34 against state-ranked Mansfield Lake Ridge, 30 against Plano West and 28 against 12-time state champion Duncanville — all wins.
High School Sports
Robinson was among 12 players selected for the USA women’s under-16 national team this summer and helped the United States win the FIBA U16 Women’s AmeriCup championship in Irapuato, Mexico. The U.S. went 6-0 and Robinson scored in double figures four times, with 15 points against Puerto Rico, 13 against Panama and 12 against Venezuela and in the semifinals against Mexico.
She was an all-state selection and averaged 20.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.1 steals as a freshman last season to lead Plano East to the Class 6A Division I state semifinals. She averaged 22 points in the playoffs and scored 28 points in a 49-45 win over North Crowley in the regional final and 31 points in a 61-51 loss to 6A Division I state runner-up Cedar Hill in a state semifinal.
Robinson didn’t start playing big-time AAU basketball until the summer of 2023, but she received her first college offer from Oklahoma State as a 13-year-old eighth-grader and already had more than 20 college offers by the time she was 14. Many elite girls basketball players in the Dallas area have left public schools in recent years to transfer to charter schools, prep schools and private schools, but Robinson told The News last season that she wasn’t planning to leave Plano East and that her goals are to become a McDonald’s All-American and lead her school to a state championship.
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