If the PG class of 2013 is a little weak, the returning SG class looks downright anemic. I expect this to change. I expect an upper classmen or three will emerge out of nowhere. I also feel one or two freshmen will sparkle, as usually is the case. But right now there just isn’t a lot to see in the world of SG prospects. The returning players all have some work to do on their games and the foreign SGs also look weak at first glance.
The returning group is a mix of sophomores trying to build on decent freshman seasons and college veterans hoping for the chance to put it all together. Players are listed in order of how much I like them as prospects going into the season. Because the season hasn’t started yet and these players are all very young, the order will certainly change during the year and shouldn’t be taken too seriously at this point.
| Player |
2PP |
3PP |
P40 |
S40 |
A/TO |
RSB40 |
| BJ Young |
552 |
413 |
23.7 |
1.8 |
1.0 |
7.0 |
| CJ McCollum |
489 |
341 |
25.9 |
3.1 |
1.5 |
11.5 |
| Drew Crawford |
535 |
440 |
19.4 |
1.5 |
1.3 |
7.8 |
| George Beamon |
516 |
427 |
23.0 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
9.1 |
| K Caldwell-Pope |
449 |
366 |
18.4 |
1.7 |
1.4 |
8.5 |
| CJ Wilcox |
473 |
403 |
19.0 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
6.5 |
| Anthony Raffa |
541 |
357 |
21.5 |
2.4 |
0.9 |
7.3 |
| Lasan Kromah |
442 |
313 |
15.6 |
2.4 |
1.0 |
10.4 |
| Victor Oladipo |
523 |
208 |
15.9 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
10.7 |
| PJ Hairston |
390 |
273 |
16.8 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
8.1 |
| LaQuentin Miles |
482 |
0 |
22.0 |
3.0 |
0.9 |
10.6 |
| Michael Snaer |
461 |
404 |
18.4 |
1.5 |
1.0 |
7.0 |
BJ Young, Arkansas: Easily the top returning SG. Young scored often and efficiently as a freshman. Players who flash this type of offensive proficiency as freshmen usually become first round draftees. Young will be no exception. He might even bust out as a college superstar in 2013. The downside is he’s skinny and his defense is marginal, so his high end is more likely that of a soft scorer than an all-around dominant SG. But he’s also young enough that weights and hard work could turn him into a more dominant all-around player.
CJ McCollum, Lehigh: Solid, multi-skilled guard. McCollum is mainly a scorer and defender, but can play some point. The problem is he’s always been an inefficient scorer and that has historically been a huge negative. His 3-pointer has been shaky since he hit .421 as a freshman. If he can get his percentages over .500 and .400 as a senior, and he’s close enough that this isn’t a crazy notion, he’s a potential lottery pick.
Drew Crawford, Northwestern: He stepped up his game nicely as a junior, surpassing .500 and .400 easily while hitting all the other important benchmarks, except scoring where he fell just short of 20.0, at 19.4. Crawford should get a chance to sparkle in 2013 with Shurna having left. The flipside of this situation is his efficiency could suffer when he becomes the Wildcat’s top option.
George Beamon, Manhattan: A solid small college SG and very much a player to watch. Beamon’s improvement from little-used freshman, to sophomore starter, to junior star has been pretty dramatic. It shows he’s a hard worker and that’s always a good thing for a prospect. The big negative is he’s turnover-prone.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia: Couldn’t he just go by Ken Pope as a player? It would make things so much easier for those of us who type his name into spreadsheets. Whatever he decides to go by, Mr. Pope is a decent prospect. He’s the next best returning sophomore SG after Young. He needs to improve his scoring efficiency a lot before I take him too seriously as a prospect though.
CJ Wilcox, Washington: He should get a chance to shine with Wroten and Ross having moved on to the pros. Wilcox will be 22 before the Pac-10 season starts, so he’s the age of most seniors and this is a pretty big negative for a “developing” player. But he should get a chance to play and star this year and that’s a big advantage for him.
Anthony Raffa, Coastal Carolina: He’s a little late in busting out, having just emerged last year as a 4th-year junior. He has a transfer in his past, which is always a negative sign. He’s also just 6’1” and has shown little in the way of PG skills, so it’s very unlikely he’ll be a starter in the NBA. He put up some nice numbers last year in his first as a full-timer and that makes him a player to watch.
Lasan Kromah, George Washington: Kromah looked great as a freshman in 2010, showing dominant ability on both ends of the court. He missed his sophomore year because of injury. He then struggled on offense last year as a junior. Because he’s been off the map for a couple of years, due to injury and inefficiency, I have to consider him a long shot. Because he flashed dominant ability as a freshman, he remains a player to keep an eye on.
Victor Oladipo, Indiana: A good defender, he needs to score more efficiently from behind the arc and more frequently in general. As the 4th-leading scorer on a team that returns everyone, it’s hard to see how his looks will increase. He does have some ability though and could break out should his offense improve dramatically.
PJ Hairston, North Carolina: He’s a recent phenom who is coming off a rough freshman year. With the bulk of the Tar Heel stats going to the pros, Hairston will get a chance to shine. He was terrible in his 482 freshman minutes and looks more like a SF than a SG. But he should get a chance and gets a mention here, because he was a top 15 prospect coming out of high school.
LaQuentin Miles, Central Arkansas: Big and dominant on defense. Miles needs to improve his offense. In two NCAA seasons he has hit only 1 3-pointer in 6 attempts. He’s knocked around some, playing at SE Missouri State in 2010 before transferring to Central Arkansas last year where he finally settled in. That means he’s the age of most seniors. He has a long way to go, but the potential is there if he can refine his offense.
Michael Snaer, Florida State: He’s been a player to watch since coming into college ball as a top 20 prospect in ‘09. He finally started to show something last year and will be in a make-or-break situation as a senior in 2013.