Inter Miami CF rookie forward Robbie Robinson was named the 2020 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) male athlete of the year across all sports on Wednesday, his latest individual achievement stemming from his 2019 collegiate season with Clemson University.
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 NBA icon Michael Jordan, and recent standouts such as fellow Clemson athlete and Houston Texans NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson, reigning NFL MVP and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, and Zion Williamson of the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans.
“It feels great to be the ACC men’s athlete of the year," Robinson said in a statement. "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. 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.
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. He was also Clemson's male athlete of the year across all sports.
