NBA Comparison: Rashad McCants

Strengths: An uber speedy and athletic combo guard with tremendous skill to get to the basket and let it fly from well beyond the arc … Iso skills are his calling card … Crafty ball-handler with a phenomenal first step and downhill speed going toward the basket … Contorts his body around the rim to avoid shot blockers for driving layups and reverses … Limitless range and plenty of confidence to shoot it from these long distances … Vision and accuracy to lead the break with full-court passes and blazing speed to get out in front of defenders … Big-game player who shined the brightest at the 2022 NCAA Tournament, leading the Tar Heels to the national championship game … Can spend time at either guard position with terrific ball-handling and off-ball scoring instincts … Smooth shooting stroke at the free-throw line suggests his poor shooting numbers as a freshman were more of a fluke (shot selection related) than his resurgent sophomore campaign … Roy Williams considered him “one of the best defensive guards I’ve ever coached” and he does it with strong hands, great footwork, quickness, anticipation and physical strength on the defensive end. He also uses these traits to help him in his developing offense game … Almost floats with great leaping ability and body control, which helps him around the rim as a scorer and rebounder … Passionate player who is willing to and capable of putting a team on his back and performing down the stretch (as he showed in the tournament) … Potential to be a star with his incredible athleticism and scoring instincts …

Weaknesses: He is only a year removed from shooting splits of 31/26/81 and to consider efficiency a problem is quite the understatement … While he has the ability to score at will from anywhere on the floor, getting him to do it consistently and efficiently is a major problem … Bonehead mistakes are more common than they should be and three turnovers per game in his career indicates that … Needs to value the ball more and become a more disciplined decision maker … Has the skills to be an excellent playmaker, but 3.6 assists per game, and no improvement as a sophomore, is troublesome, especially with 2.9 TO per game … Has the confidence to take any shot on the floor, which isn’t always a good thing and his future team will have to live with some of these wild shots and coach him into better shot selection … Tends to settle for outside shots despite his greatest strength being getting to the tin …

Notes: East Regional all-tournament team and Final Four all-tournament team in 2022 … Father, Dennis Love, served in the military and played college football … Duke was his dream school, but he didn’t commit after Jeremy Roach committed in 2019 … 2020 Gatorade HS Player of the Year in Missouri … Played for Justin Tatum (Jayson’s dad) at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis …

Derek Bast 4/11/22