Meet the Transfers: USF’s Derrell Robertson Jr.

Jan 2, 2013; Rosemont, IL, USA; DePaul Blue Demons center Derrell Robertson Jr. (10) shoots the ball over Seton Hall Pirates center Eugene Teague (21) during the second half at the Allstate Arena. Seton Hall beat DePaul 73-72. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

While the WCC is regarded as more of a guard-driven league, having a physical, opposing center that patrols the paint would be beneficial to any team, guard-laden conference or not. The USF Dons could possibly find this type of player in Depaul transfer Derrell Robertson Jr.

While the Dons have a lot of promising pieces in the frontcourt, Robertson Jr. can make an immediate impact, especially due to his size.

At Depaul

Robertson was a role player on some poor Depaul teams, but gained some nice experience playing in the Big East nonetheless.

His freshman year, played 8.5 minutes per game and started one game out of the 29 he played, but failed to make a significant impact on the stat sheet; Robertson averaged 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in his debut season. However, his 0.7 blocks per game showed he had the potential to be a great rim protector in the future, as that equals on to be 3.3 blocks per game.

As a sophomore, production improved rebounding and scoring wise as he earned more minutes. His scoring increased to 1.9 points per game and his rebounding increased to 2.6 rebounds per game in the transition between his freshman and sophomore season. Simultaneously his blocks per game decreased from 0.7 to 0.5, which is noticeable but not as significant.

However, Robertson still appears to be a more than capable shot blocker, as evident by the video below:

Impact at USF

The Dons have a lot of starter-caliber players, but Robertson will be in the conversation for San Francisco’s starting center position.

At 6-foot-10, 242 pounds, Robertson is easily the biggest player on the USF roster and will bring a completely different element to the Dons frontcourt.

Even if Robertson does not start right away, he will play significant minutes off the bench and help the Dons that way.