Notre Dame Among Three Teams Standing Out For Running Back Xavier Robinson

Carl Albert head coach Mike Dunn gives insight into star running back Xavier Robinson

After being offered by Notre Dame on May 1st, Midwest City (Okla.) Carl Albert running back Xavier Robinson has quickly developed a great relationship with the Irish staff. The talented runner brings an intriguing profile to the table, becoming an interesting option for the second 2024 running back in the class to go with Aneyas Williams.

Robinson’s head coach at Carl Albert, Mike Dunn, gave some insight into his star running back and his overall recruiting process. So far this off-season, Robinson has been staying focused on working on improving his game.

"He’s having a great off-season,” Dunn said. "We just finished up our seventh day of spring ball and have a team camp at our place tomorrow. We will have a lot of teams out there to scrimmage and really compete. Xavier is working his tail off and really staying focused.”

The Carl Albert staff quickly knew after Robinson transferred in before his sophomore year that they had something special. Once the games began, it became easy to see.

"You started to see it as a sophomore,” Dunn explained. "He split carries with a good running back we had at the time. Then there was an injury, Xavier had the chance to really get a bulk of the carries and had some big games.

"As a junior, he was playing both sides of the ball the first game of the season,” he continued. "Then in game two, he rushed for 260 yards and four touchdowns. It was obvious from there that he was going to be something special.”

Robinson isn’t special just because of his physical talent, which is impressive. It’s also the work ethic Robinson possesses. He has been busy taking care of business on and off the field.

"He’s a weight room junior,” Dunn stated. "When he first got to us, he hadn’t really done much of it. This is now our second off-season with him, third summer with us. He’s power cleaning 320 pounds, which is uncommon for high school. He’s benching close to 300 pounds. Xavier is doing all of the little things.”

The Oklahoma native is also handling the recruiting process to the best of his ability. It can be a daunting task for some, but Robinson has been sure to stay focused.

"He’s handling the recruiting side of things really well,” he said. “He has done a really good job being up front and honest. It has helped to slow things down a bit and Xavier isn’t afraid to take a step back and take a couple days off. He isn’t really in love with the recruiting stuff but he’s obviously very grateful for all the opportunities.”

As of now, Dunn sees three teams starting out for Robinson. Relationships have been a huge reason that those three have risen above the rest.

"I think Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Iowa State have kind of separated themselves in the recruitment a little bit,” said Dunn. "Xavier has a great relationship with Coach (Deland) McCullough at Notre Dame, one with Iowa State and Jordan Langs, as well as with Jeff Lebby and the Oklahoma staff.”

Of course Notre Dame is a bit of an outlier on that list. Iowa State and Oklahoma are both Big 12 teams that Robinson grew up knowing a lot better. If he does choose the Irish, however, Coach Dunn doesn’t think it will be a major demographic shift.

"I think he’d be fine,” stated the Carl Albert head coach. "He’s a kid that doesn’t get wide eyes or anything. He will thrive and take all the help he can get. He understands the support is there for a reason.”

Coming into his official visit on June 7th, it will be interesting to see how much Notre Dame pushes for Robinson. He would provide an intriguing power back option to a team that is looking for more of that type.

More and more programs continue to check in on Robinson, seeing his offer list expand quickly over the last few weeks. Some of the premier programs who have offered the Oklahoma star so far include the Fighting Irish, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Vanderbilt

The 6-2, 225-pound runner has been a dynamic presence for the Carl Albert Titans. During his junior season, Robinson rushed for 2,594 yards and 39 touchdowns for the 12-2 squad. He did so on just 276 carries, averaging an absurd 9.4 yards per carry.

In the passing game, Robinson also hauled in an additional 10 receptions for 78 yards and another score. On Robinson’s lone kick return last season, he took it back 69 yards for a touchdown.

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