Rena Robinson’s Story From Tokyo to Illinois

3 minute read

By Andrea Aruino

Rena Robinson’s basketball journey began halfway across the world in Tokyo, Japan. Born in Sacramento, California, she moved to Japan at a young age, where basketball started as simply a fun activity before quickly becoming a true passion. At 12 years old, Robinson returned to the United States and was introduced to a new style of basketball, forcing her to adapt and develop her game in a different environment. She continued her basketball career at Ida Price Middle School and Archbishop Mitty High School before ultimately earning the opportunity to play at the collegiate level at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Before securing a roster position at IWU, Robinson put in a lot of hard work to build up her mind and skill while at Mitty where she led as a team captain. She finished her time at Mitty with a career record of 57-5, and went 12-0 during the 2023 and 2024 season finishing first in the league after winning league and section championships. During the college recruitment process, she took the initiative to reach out to the Titan’s head coach, Mia Smith, exchanging emails with the coaching staff and sending videos of herself playing. After visiting campus and attending a game, Robinson saw a team culture she wanted to be part of. One tradition stood out: players spending part of warmups greeting and hugging their families.

Now heading into her sophomore season at IWU, Robinson reflects on her growth from her first year with the team. During her freshman season, she scored a total of 44 points with an average of 8.6 minutes per game, but her first season was not all about the stats. At Wesleyan, she had the opportunity to expand her role on the court. She was no longer just a guard but one who could execute the work of anyone else on the team if needed.

“The team mindset was ‘if you know you can do it, go ahead.’ It’s not like we’re doing random things out of the blue, but if you’ve been training a certain skill that you don’t usually, it’s always encouraged to simply try,” Robinson said.

That freedom came with its challenges as Robinson worked to find her place in a new environment. Still, she found moments where she was able to play with the confidence she knew she had. Heading into her sophomore season, Robinson is ready to take on more responsibility. With several seniors graduating, she hopes to become more vocal while helping guide a younger Illinois Wesleyan roster.

“I definitely want to be more vocal because we lost a lot of seniors and we don't have a lot of upperclassmen this season. So that mentality will definitely help with incoming freshmen, I want to be there for them and help as much as I can,” Robinson said.

Robinson has also continued developing her game with UPBasketball. After discovering UPB on Instagram, she trained with Coach Packie back in 2024 and returned this summer to work with Coach Veronica Barrot. For Robinson, the gym has helped her expand her understanding of basketball beyond just skill development.

“I love UPB because they're not just training you for just your skills. They're teaching you so much more than just skill, they definitely opened up my mind about basketball way more than anybody or any video or any other trainer,” Robinson said.

Now, Robinson enters her sophomore season with a year of collegiate experience behind her and a new opportunity to grow as both a player and leader. After beginning her basketball journey in Tokyo, she is ready to take the next step at Illinois Wesleyan where she hopes to blossom into a leader that all of her teammates can go to for support.