5 Freshman Point Guards to Watch in the Pac-12

The point guard position has become a coveted position over the past couple years with perimeter basketball becoming a bigger emphasis.  Some teams in the Pac-12 have talented freshman point guards that will need to produce in order for the team to be successful.  In some cases, these freshman point guards will be the stars of the team, while others will only be to help fill an important role.  Here are the freshman guards to keep an eye on once the season starts.

1.  Jordan McLaughlin, USC – Dunk City II has a new floor general and he is here to conquer the Pac-12. With last years starting point guard Pe’Shon Howard graduating and USC’s leading scorer Byron Wesley transferring to Gonzaga, Jordan McLaughlin is in a perfection situation where he can display his immense offensive gifts immediately.

McLaughlin is potentially a perfect fit for head coach Andy Enfield’s shoot first, ask questions later offense. It all begins with his ability to penetrate the defense at will. Using his quickness and deft ball-handling ability, McLaughlin can snake his way to the basket to finish or set up his teammates with his impressive court vision. Also, don’t just look for him throwing lobs and no-look passes all the time in transition. McLaughlin has surprising athleticism and will not hesitate to throw down a dunk.

2.  Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Arizona – Physically speaking, Parker Jackson-Cartwright is always overlooked. With the much more heralded Stanley Johnson headlining the Arizona Wildcat 2014 recruiting class, Jackson-Cartwright was left in the shadows of the nations 6^th best recruiting class. Listed at a gargantuan 5’8, Jackson-Cartwright may be little in stature, but he is big in talent.

Ranked No. 57 on the 2014 ESPN 100 list, Jackson-Cartwright will be playing behind senior point guard T.J. McConnell, but when he does see the floor, Wildcat fans will be impressed with his toughness first and foremost. For as small as he is, he never shies away from contact or ever stops penetrating the lane. He has a great ability to quickly change directions and good vision to find open teammates. Don’t think head coach Sean Miller recruited him completely based on his offensive abilities. Jackson-Wright also has lightning quick hands to strip the ball and start the wildcat transition on his own.

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3.  Dominique Collier, Colorado – Of all the freshman point guards on this list, Dominique Collier is walking into the best situation. Ranked No. 85 in the 2014 ESPN 100 list, Collier is the star of the Colorado Buffalo 2014 recruiting class and will probably get a shot to start alongside talented veteran starters Josh Scott, Askia Booker, and Xavier Johnson. With those veterans helping Collier come along, he will have no pressure on him to do too much.

Don’t expect Collier to take back seat though. He is still a master ball distributor that will feed the scoring beasts that took Colorado to the NCAA tournament last season. He’s not extremely quick, but he can knife through the defense efficiently from the triple threat position and has a deadly 3-point shot if the defense decides to sag off him. Look for Collier to be a big contributor to Colorado’s run to the Pac-12 title.

4.  Ahmaad Rorie, Oregon – JaQuan Lyle was supposed to be the freshman Oregon Duck point guard in this slot, but the beauty of head coach Dana Altman’s offensive system is that if you have a quick, shot-minded player plugged in to the point guard position, they will have many opportunities to flourish. Ahmaad Rorie may not have been talked about as much as Lyle, but he might be a better point guard for this system than Lyle was.

Rorie has an impressive skill set that will keep most defenses off balance. It all starts beyond the 3-point line where he has a confident stroke from the perimeter. He often uses his quickness to create his own shot. He has also shown he is a willing passer and likes to get his teammates involved.

Though Lyle was supposed to be the backcourt mate for Joe Young, Rorie is talented enough to hold his own and supplement Young’s scoring with his own.

5.  Tra Holder, Arizona State – When Jahii Carson made the decision to enter the NBA draft he left a vacuum of production at the point guard position that the Arizona State Sun Devils needed to fill. Enter 3-star recruit Tra Holder.

Holder has great ball control and uses an array of moves to get access to the rim where he can finish through contact or find one of his teammates. He has a decent pull up jump shot that he can use once the defense sees his ball handling skills. On defense, he has some trouble staying in front of quicker guards, but he has a knack of knocking the ball out and breaking out in transition.

He will probably be splitting time with Chance Murray in the backcourt, but with Carson’s 18.6 points and 4.6 assists per game production needing to be filled, Holder is in a position to contribute immediately.