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Butler Basketball: What does Kamar Baldwin bring to the Bulldogs?

By Lukas Harkins

MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Kamar Baldwin
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Kamar Baldwin /
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Kamar Baldwin had an amazing freshman season for Butler basketball last season. Now a sophomore, he will need to be a leader and a star for the team.

Out of high school, Kamar Baldwin was not an extremely highly-touted recruit. Despite ridiculous averages of 29.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game as a senior at Apalachee High School (Winder, GA), Baldwin was rated as a three-star prospect and ranked at No. 155 in his class by 247Sports Composite Ranking.

Playing under head coach Chris Holtmann (who has since moved to Ohio State) at Butler last season, Baldwin hushed the critics who ranked him outside the top-100. In just his second career college game, Baldwin stepped up for his teammates and buried the game-winning jump shot to beat Northwestern, who ended up reaching the NCAA Tournament.

For Butler fans, that was just the beginning of what was a great season by Baldwin. For the season, he was third on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game. This scoring is certainly solid for a freshman in the Big East, but his efficiency was excellent as well. Baldwin shot 49.5% from the field and was a solid 37.2% from 3-point range.

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    • As a 6’0″ shooting guard, Baldwin’s 3.7 rebounds per game also showed his ability to sky for boards in clutch situations.

    In addition to his scoring and rebounding, though, Baldwin is one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation. In Butler’s two NCAA Tournament victories this last season, Baldwin had to match up with two excellent scorers in Winthrop’s Keon Johnson (22.3 points per game) and Middle Tennessee’s Giddy Potts (15.3 points per game). In those two games, he held the two guards to a total of 17 points on 7-for-24 (29.2%) shooting from the field.

    Heading into this season, the expectation is that Baldwin will take another step up in his production. Not only does Butler have a new head coach in LaVall Jordan, but there has been some tough roster turnover in the offseason. Major contributors Tyler Lewis, Avery Woodson, and Kethan Savage are all gone in the backcourt, leaving Baldwin as the lone returning guard who played big-time minutes last season.

    Sure, George Washington transfer Paul Jorgensen along with a talented freshmen class full of guards enters the scene for Butler’s backcourt this season, but the majority of the scoring and defensive duties will rest on the shoulders of Baldwin.

    Wing Kelan Martin, the team’s leading scorer last season, will be Baldwin’s co-star this season and they are the dynamic duo that will hopefully lead Butler back to the NCAA Tournament. Although Baldwin spent most of this last season at the two-guard, he will need to shift and play some point guard during the 2017-18 campaign. Now, in addition to finding his own buckets, it will be up to Baldwin to keep the offense flowing and finding his teammates (especially Martin) for easy buckets.

    Butler was given the 28th most votes in the preseason Coaches’ Poll and the team also received votes in our preseason Busting Brackets’ top-25. For my yet-to-be-released preseason Bracketology, the team was awarded a No. 6 seed. These predictions all largely rely on the improvement of Baldwin and how well he will be able to run the Butler offense as a sophomore.

    On the whole, Baldwin brings an all-around game that cannot be underestimated. Not only can he beat you from deep, but he is excellent when attacking the basket. As he is ambidextrous, he can make acrobatic finishes that are almost unrealistic. In addition, he has a shaky handle and can often create his own shot in the half-court.

    On the defensive end, his elite quickness allows him to stay in front of just about anyone and his quick hands allow him to poke the ball loose for game-clinching steals.

    This is an exciting player to watch on any given night and it is expected that he will take another step forward for the Hinkle faithful this season.

    Next: Butler's 2017-18 season preview

    New head coach LaVall Jordan will definitely rely on Baldwin to provide a lot of firepower to his team this season. Baldwin is coming off of a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie Team in the conference last season and he could easily have an All-Conference Team in his sights this season. There are a lot of people who are expecting Butler to take a major step back this season, but with the scoring power of Martin and the all-around play of Baldwin, this team has a duo that can make things happen.