He played on a beyond terrible team with zero talent and still had an ORTG offensive power rating of 106 for the season with a usage rate over 25. To put this into better perspective, 3 players on Rhode Island had an ORTG offensive power rating over 100, 2 were in the 90s, and the rest were 80s or worse. To understand this more easily, he was playing on a team with a bunch of Nate Santos and Will Jeffress type players on offense, players that cant shoot or score at this level at all at this point in their careers.
This is similar to a player named Mike Cook who came over here from ECU when ECU was beyond terrible as a team. Cook had to carry that team at ECU because he didn't have any talent to work with. He got plugged into the point guard position at times and his efficiency numbers were average at best with major turnover problems. When he was moved off the ball at Pitt, his usage rate came down with Levance Fields and other talented players around him, and his ORTG offensive power rating and efficiency metrics went much higher and he was really effective. And we won a ton of games with Cook.
Here's the quick skinny. He is a 3 level scorer. You are getting points with dribble penetration, midrange, and from 3 point shooting, he made just under 50 three balls last year. He made 147 free throws last year which puts him as one of the best players in the country at getting to the free throw line. He makes free throws at 85%, which tells me he has shooting skill but needs far better talent to help him. And that is one of if not the main reason he left Rhode Island, he had no talent to work with.
His efficiency numbers should at least hold 105 at Pitt, with a chance to go quite higher with much better players to work with. I like the rebound numbers. The only number I dont know how much will improve is the 3 point shot, but he is checking a lot of boxes in other areas and is a 3 level scorer that is coveted.
With 2 years left to play, this is a take.
gorhody.com
