STILLWATER — Garland Parks quickly became accustomed to the requests.

Hey Coach, can I get in the gym?

Hey Coach, can I stay after practice to get shots up?

Early in Jaxson Robinson’s Ada High School career, Parks realized the youngster had an elevated work ethic.

“Just a gym rat,” said Parks, who is now the head coach at Putnam City, but was at Ada for all three of Robinson’s seasons there. “Anyone could see his talent early on. He was highly skilled and you could see him grow every year.”

Seven years later, Robinson is still developing. Despite being just 21 years old, he’s in his fourth year of college, and his second season at BYU.

And for the second time this season, he’ll be back in his home state when the 19th-ranked Cougars visit Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

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Robinson made his first trip back to Oklahoma on Feb. 6, and it was all he could’ve hoped for — except for the end result in an 82-66 loss to the Sooners in Norman.

“It was a great atmosphere to have friends and family there,” Robinson said. “But hopefully we get a win this time.”

The 6-foot-7 Robinson is BYU’s leading scorer this season, averaging 13.8 points per game while shooting 44.0% from the floor at 37.5% from 3-point range.

“Watching the kid on film shoot the ball from the places he shoots the ball from, it’s clear that there’s a level of comfort and confidence he’s playing with,” said OSU coach Mike Boynton, who recruited Robinson at Ada. “He’s a good player, great size, great shooting ability, and obviously, playing in a system that really fits his skillset.”

Robinson’s journey to this point has been anything but traditional.

After three strong seasons at Ada, he was offered the opportunity to graduate a year early and enroll at Texas A&M for the 2020-21 season, when he should’ve been a high school senior.

After one season seeing minimal action with the Aggies, he transferred to Arkansas and again saw limited playing time. Then he landed at BYU, where he made 30 starts a year ago and led the team with 61 made 3-pointers. Now, he’s a key piece of a team that is 18-6 overall.

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He only turned 21 in December, so it’s not surprising to see his level of development over the last two seasons.

“When I first got to BYU, there were a couple guys who were older than me who were coming in as freshmen,” Robinson said. “With the experience I’ve had, even though I didn’t play as much at my first two schools, I played with guys who are pros now, and I was in there every day with those guys, working on my game.”

Robinson’s mother, Brandi Robinson-McWilliams, grew up in Atoka and was an All-American at Southeastern State, as was her sister, Crystal Robinson — an Oklahoma legend who had a successful WNBA career and has coached at the high school, college and WNBA levels.

When Jaxson was in high school, Crystal occasionally would make the one-hour drive to Ada to spend time in the gym with her nephew.

“I know there’s a lot of things different from women’s basketball and men’s basketball, but there’s a lot of things that she taught me, as far as my footwork and stuff, that I think helped me be further ahead than most people because she was a shooter herself,” Jaxson said. “She was a shooter herself and she showed me the mechanics and the footwork that goes into shooting, and that’s something that really helped me.”

Jaxson was 6-foot-4 by his freshman year, and while many kids with that size at such an early age will get shuffled to the inside, it was already clear he was a perimeter player.

“He was very long and lanky, had that build that just looked like a lot of potential with that frame,” said Norman North’s Kellen McCoy, who coached Jaxson for three years on the summer circuit with Team Griffin. “Then you look at his skillset, he could dribble, pass and shoot it, and could shoot it at a really high level.

“He jumped off the page at you for potential at a young age, and then once you get around him in the game, you start to see his IQ for the game.”

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Sprinkle in his gym-rat nature, and all the ingredients for success were present.

“I grew up in a big basketball family, so the game has always been part of my life,” Jaxson said. “Especially in my early days, I didn’t always have access to a gym, so once I had the opportunity to be in there, why not take advantage of it?

“After practice, I would stick around when everybody left and ask Coach Parks if he’d stay an extra hour for me to get some shots up or whatever it was, and he always let me do it. So I’m very appreciative of him. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him doing things like that.”

Seeing Jaxson’s potential unfold in front of his eyes, Parks didn’t mind all those requests for extra gym time.

“He was always in the gym, before practice, after practice, always trying to get in on the weekends,” Parks said. “He was always looking to improve his game and his leadership, and he did. So it’s not surprising to see the success he’s having now.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

OSU vs. No. 19 BYU

TIPOFF: 1 p.m. Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Where is Jaxson Robinson from? Get to know BYU guard from Oklahoma