Remember the Camden-Eastside boys’ basketball fight? One combatant has risen above it.

As a freshman getting playing time at Monmouth, Cornelius Robinson is in a good place and miles away from a lapse in judgment that made national news.

Former Camden forward Cornelius Robinson has found new life as a freshman at Monmouth.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Kerith Gabriel

Published Dec. 7, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Cornelius Robinson doesn’t want to talk about it.

It’s not that he doesn’t see the need to, but it’s just not who he is. See, the night as a member of the boys’ basketball team at Camden High when he punched Camden-Eastside’s Titus Bacon in the face over an inadvertent screen is of little consequence now.

That was not the case that night when his split-second action touched off a brawl and ultimately cost Camden a chance at a state championship. That left his teammates, namely DJ Wagner, now a Kentucky freshman who at the time was seen as the top guard in the nation, without an opportunity to end their high school careers on a high note. Camden was banned from the state tournament.

Time has moved on, and so have critics of the incident, one that reached a national fever pitch given the names on Camden’s roster last season, but most importantly, so has Robinson, or “Boog,” as he’s known in basketball circles. Where he is today appears to be a happy place, situated as a freshman at Monmouth, though he originally committed to play at Albany — until changing his mind and joining head coach King Rice’s Hawks.

He doesn’t want to talk about that either. When asked specifically to comment on his change of heart from Albany, Robinson, 19, simply replied, “Um, no.”

But the one thing he did say about that fateful night in Cherry Hill and the subsequent decision to not become a member of the Great Danes might have been the most poignant statement during his 10-minute conversation with this reporter.

“I’ve done a lot of things through the past couple of years in AAU and in high school,” Robinson said. “The most important thing I learned is just play hard and always control what you can control. [Fortunately], you can control playing hard. So that’s it. That’s my goal.”

That mindset has gotten Boog minutes in every game this season so far for the Hawks, averaging 3.6 points and 3 rebounds per game. He also ranks second on the team in steals with 10. He got to display his talents in front of family and friends in a return to the Philly-Camden area, playing against Penn on Nov. 26 in the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra.

“It’s always amazing when you can play in front of your family and friends, and I had a lot of family and friends in attendance,” said Robinson. “I’m glad they were able to come see me play. It’s always fun playing in front of people you know.”

Speaking of friends, Robinson didn’t lose them in Wagner and current 6-foot-8 St. Joseph’s forward Dasear Haskins, who was also on the court at Cherry Hill East on the night of the fight. These days, the trio take part in a group chat where anything for discussion is on the table.

“I talk to them probably like four times a week, almost every day,” Robinson said of Wagner and Haskins. “Those guys are going to be my friends for life. [Haskins] was actually at one of the games [at the Cathedral Classic]. Our conversations are never about anything bad. Usually, it’s about a game, or just talking about random things, you know, laughing, just having fun.”

‘We don’t give up on kids here’

Rice contends unequivocally that nothing changed when he found out Robinson sparked a brawl. He claims he wasn’t even that shocked, really, just disappointed that the event happened to “such a good kid.”

See, Rice and his scouting team already had their homework completed on Robinson, a player he said his program eyed since Boog’s sophomore year. Conversations had already been had with the player, his mother, his father, his coaches, and friends. They knew his character, but more importantly, Rice says he knew this incident didn’t define him.

Even if other programs may not have seen it the same way.

“When I saw him, they had all these other kids on the team and he was the one kid I liked,” said Rice. “Then he blew his knee out and after that, a lot of people stopped recruiting him. And then the fight happens, and even more people [leave] him on the table. Not us. We don’t give up on kids here. … We knew him, we liked his family, he’s a great student, and honestly, when he chose Albany, we were crushed.”

Rice sees a lot of himself in Robinson. Rice’s run-ins with the law have been well documented along the way of a standout college career that spanned four years at North Carolina under famed coach Dean Smith. Rice credits Smith with being able to see him as a kid who made mistakes but not as one who was a potential problem. That served as a jump-off to nearly three decades in college basketball, the last 12 as Monmouth’s head coach.

“If Coach Smith alienated me when I had my trouble at UNC or if [former Illinois State head coach] Ken Stallings kicked me out when [as an Illinois State assistant] I ran in the stands and grabbed a fan, I wouldn’t be a head coach right now,” said Rice. “People make mistakes and you need coaches that can look at a kid’s character and say, ‘This isn’t who they are.’ You can’t blacklist these kids and ostracize them immediately because they made a bad decision. I just don’t believe in that, and I’m always shocked when I see it happening.”

Only those who know Robinson best will have the insider information on why Albany didn’t work out as the school refused to comment, but it’s safe to assume that Monmouth became the obvious choice after Boog saw the Hawks’ outstretched hands led by a coach who has walked in similar shoes.

“Monmouth is a great school and I really enjoy playing for Coach Rice,” Robinson said. “I feel like I’m adjusting well, and I feel like the coaches are putting confidence in me and because of that, I’m really motivated to go out and play well.”