There’s been several constants with this basketball team over the past few seasons. Several knowns that we as fans can rely upon from the Bearcats night-after-night, year-after-year. One of which is their ability to win at least 20 games falling out of bed and earn NCAA Tournament bids at a historic rate. Unfortunately, another has been the inability to get consistent production out of the three spot.
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It’s been a black hole since JaQuon Parker graduated. Jermaine Sanders and Shaq Thomas were expected to pick up the slack. That was plan and good one from Mick Cronin, leveraging his two best wings in the 2011 recruiting class to fill the void that Parker left. But the duo hasn’t really lived up to expectations.
Sanders in four years at UC proved himself a solid defender but was far too timid offensively. He was good for a pair of threes per game but that was pretty much it. And to Thomas, he’s shown flashes of brilliance with the ball in his hands. His games in the Bahamas and the last month of the 2014-15 season were eye opening. But Thomas has been far too inconsistent over the course of his career to be relied upon to play the wing at a high level for 30-35 minutes next season.
That’s the major question mark heading into November. Cincinnati’s pretty well set in the front and back courts. Troy Caupain, Farad Cobb, and Kevin Johnson form a solid rotation around the perimeter as Octavius Ellis, Gary Clark, and Coreontae DeBerry do down low.
But half of Cincinnati’s three spot has been lost to graduation. At the very least Sanders provided a warm body to spell Thomas if he got into droughts and visa versa.
In comes Jacob Evans, the 6’6″ shooting guard who averaged 20.6 points, 7.3 boards, and 5.8 assists this past season at St. Michael The Archangel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On paper he should provide the offensive punch that this position has been craving for years.
Obviously we’re putting the cart miles in front of the horse. Evans hasn’t even stepped on campus yet let alone gotten time in with his coaches and teammates in an organized practice setting. But I anticipate he’ll have a freshman performance next season similar to Gary Clark’s for the simple fact that he’ll garner every second of Jermaine Sanders’ 20.9 minutes per game, especially considering Deshaun Morman is gonzo. Just by way of seeing the floor half the time, Evans will have ample opportunities to light up the scoreboard.
On top of that he’s a far more proficient three point shooter than Shaq Thomas. Overall, Evans is just a more dynamic offensive player than Thomas, who has only recently developed a solid outside-in game.
Now, Mick Cronin values defense over everything. We know this. We also know that he values upperclassmen who “get” his system more than talented youngsters. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Shaq Thomas, who’s both a solid defender and a senior next season, eats up most of the minutes at the three. But Jacob Evans should get his fair share of playing time as well.
He probably won’t get more than 5-10 per game at the beginning of the season, maybe extended a little more in blowouts. He definitely won’t start. But Evans could be darn near splitting time with Thomas come AAC play, at which point he could put up a similar line as Gary Clark this past season (8-7-2). Can you imagine the ceiling from this team if they’re getting those numbers from a true freshman?