Robinson switches sides, leads Bowie But that was his last game for the Tigers. Robinson's mother, a single parent caring for six children, found a new place in Bowie's district and moved everyone back. The Bulldogs, however, never let him forget the time he beat them. Robinson's 11 points and six rebounds against DuVal on Tuesday may help. "Oh my gosh, they wouldn't let me live that down," said Robinson, whose team travels to No. 13 Eleanor Roosevelt on Thursday in the region semifinals. After [Tuesday], after we got this victory against [DuVal], they'll finally let that down. Robinson's story is an unusual one. As long as it is a legal transfer, a player is allowed to play for more than one school in the same season without sitting out, according to Prince George's County Athletic Director Earl Hawkins. Cases such as Robinson's are "extremely rare," Hawkins said. The 6-foot-3 Robinson had lived in Bowie's district since he was in fifth grade. He has known Bowie junior guard Michael Giles since they were in sixth grade. While at Benjamin Tasker Middle School, Robinson also met current Bowie senior guard Jamaal Dubose and played AAU basketball with him. "I've played with a lot of these guys for most of my life," Robinson said. But during the summer before his junior year, Robinson said his family had to move because the house they were renting was being foreclosed. They found a house to rent in DuVal's district and he enrolled at the Lanham school. Instantly, he connected with longtime DuVal Coach Artie Walker and the players. "I will always have much respect for him," Robinson said. Robinson played in the Tigers" first four games, which included a 71-67 win against Eleanor Roosevelt and the win over Bowie. "You always want to play hard against people you know," he said of the latter game. It wasn't anything personal. I was just balling. Said DuVal senior guard Kevin Kuteyi: "We needed a big man and that was the icing on the cake. ... When he first came, we were happy to have him bring down the boards. That was a big loss. In December, the house Robinson's family was renting went into foreclosure, and the family, interested in returning to Bowie, found a new place to live, he said. "It wasn't hard coming back," he said. Robinson, who averaged 15 points in four games with DuVal, is averaging a team-high 12.9 points in 16 games with the Bulldogs (14-9). Before the playoff brackets came out last week, Bowie Coach Cedric Holbrook hoped that he wouldn't have to face DuVal, not because he feared losing or a tough matchup, but for Robinson's sake. "I just didn't want him to deal with the dilemma mentally against a bunch of kids that befriended him," Holbrook said. "It was hard for the kid, he really enjoyed his time at DuVal and liked the coaches and the people," he added. But fate intervened and Bowie and DuVal were on the same side of the region bracket, and after the Bulldogs" first-round win over Bladensburg, a rematch with DuVal was set. DuVal controlled the game early and Robinson, after an initial awkwardness, slowly got comfortable again. The Bulldogs surged in the third quarter and again went back and forth with the Tigers. "Even when he came back to DuVal [Tuesday] night, people were still rooting him on," Kuteyi said. Then, after trailing, Bowie senior Shakir Stocks hit a game-winning three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left. Robinson has been on the winning end of both Bowie-DuVal games. "It's been wild," he said. There was some adjusting to both of the teams and getting back I felt like I had something to prove at first. Eventually, I just settled down and realized that basketball is basketball. Whether I'm playing here, there, anywhere, I'm just blessed to be playing.