North Carolina Basketball: Sacha Killeya-Jones considering Tar Heels
North Carolina basketball is once again in the running for landing Sacha Killeya-Jones, but this time he is on the transfer market.
North Carolina basketball isn’t known for landing transfers. Their first one in several years came last season with Cam Johnson coming over from Pitt. The Tar Heels, though, are in the conversation this year with one of the many players on the market. The offseason in college hoops has basically turned into free agency and UNC is ready to jump in. Chapel Hill native and Kentucky transfer Sacha Killeya-Jones listed North Carolina as one of his available schools.
The 247Sports’ North Carolina affiliate Inside Carolina reported on April 13 that Killeya-Jones is being pursued by North Carolina. His mother Ley Killeya-Jones told the website that it’s going to be an easier process this time around.
Killeya-Jones originally received interest from more than 30 programs when Kentucky officially granted his release. His AAU program, Team Felton, announced at the time of this article that Killeya-Jones had narrowed his teams down to 10: Arizona State, Clemson, Georgetown, Nevada, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Texas, UNC and Wake Forest.
It makes sense for a kid from North Carolina to list quite a few ACC teams. However, Duke was not mentioned. This is, of course, probably because of the five-star athletes they have coming in.
Killeya-Jones was a five-star recruit in 2016. He was ranked 23rd overall and was a McDonald’s All-American. He only played 14 games his freshman season. Killeya-Jones played in 34 out of 37 this past season but could never find his way. Even though the Wildcats are expected to lose a few players to the NBA draft, he must have felt it was better to play somewhere else.
The sample size is quite limited for Killeya-Jones in college. He averaged less than seven minutes per game in the 14 games of his freshman season. The number of minutes per game doubled during his sophomore season but he was last in the rotation. Killeya-Jones averaged 3.3 points per game, almost three rebounds and blocked 19 shots on the season.
Killeya-Jones recorded four or more rebounds 10 times off the bench this season. Two of those games included one in the conference tournament and once in the NCAA Tournament.
The word on him is that he hasn’t quite found an identity yet on the offensive side of things. He isn’t going to back to the basket on every trip and he certainly doesn’t step back and shoot the 3-pointer. In fact, he’s only attempted one trifecta in his two-year career.
He is a good athlete. It’s not that Killeya-Jones can’t post up or hit a jump shot, it’s just he isn’t consistently proficient at either one. We know that 3-point shooting is probably completely out of the arsenal. He’s got long arms so attacking the basket might be his best option.
Ball handling and his frame will be two things that he can work on during his year off. The Tar Heels’ coaching staff has been praised for developing players’ build over the course of their careers so Killeya-Jones would be in good hands.
Finally, his defense has mixed reviews right now. He wasn’t the best in high school, but recent reports in the last couple of seasons point to improvement. 29 block shots in 48 games aren’t bad. He isn’t one for coming up with steals and over 2 fouls per game in limited time this season isn’t the greatest.
The big man from Chapel Hill has two obvious liabilities. His turnovers and free throw percentage stick out like sore thumbs. He’s lifetime 51% from the charity stripe. He has only committed 30 turnovers in 48 games, but observers of Kentucky basketball say that it’s pretty costly when it does occur.
Killeya-Jones won’t see the court until the 2019-2020 season anyway. Garrison Brooks, Sterling Manley, and Brandon Huffman will be the guys he’ll be playing alongside. There’s no one over six-foot-eight from the 2018 class so expect all three to be there still.
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If he came in now, he’d definitely have a chance at finding time in the rotation even with Luke Maye still there. But Maye will be gone and starting positions will be up for grabs. Killeya-Jones would have a year to practice with the guys, get accustomed to the North Carolina system, and have a wonderful chance at being a regular in the frontcourt.
Obviously, this is all hypothetical right now. Nothing is certain. Who knows when Killeya-Jones will make his decision from the 10 schools he’s interested in. He also may want to wait until the many of other transfers have chosen where they’re going to go. Either way, Chapel Hill will welcome Killeya-Jones back with open arms and the opportunity to play solid rotation minutes is reasonable.