NCAA Basketball: 15 undervalued players in 2020 recruiting class

#113 Nijel Pack, PG – Kansas State

TCU’s Big 12 foe, Kansas State, is in a very similar situation heading into 2020. The roster turnover and lack of success last season has cast a lot of doubt about what this year’s product will be. The Wildcats do not return a player on this year’s roster that scored at least 7.0 points per game. However, Bruce Weber is hoping his underrated recruiting class, in and of itself, is strong and hungry enough to help right the ship.

While shooting guard Selton Miguel could make some noise himself, the leader of the class is point guard Nijel Pack. While Pack is accompanied by a senior guard in Mike McGuirl, he isn’t as well rounded as Pack going into this season. His reliance and track-record as a 90+% free throw shooter will drastically help a team ranking in the bottom 50 nationally converting at the charity stripe.

Pack is not a lightning-quick guard, but his court vision and effective use of change of pace dribbles help to create a lot of successful possessions for his team. He gets to his spots and uses a good mix of midrange and floaters in the lane. He can freeze shot-blockers as well to wiggle around and score layups. Many of Pack’s moves show quick mental adjustments to score, but also set up ideal attack points to push the defense out of position.

All of this leads to him becoming Kansas State’s best option as a playmaker on the team, with the potential to lead the Wildcats in points as well. Pack’s on-court IQ and vision, combined with his effectiveness as a scoring threat, will force defenses to collapse on his penetration and open up passing lanes and looks for his teammates. There is quite a bit of talent on this year’s team, but how quickly they can adjust will determine if the Wildcats can improve this season. Playing through Pack and letting him create for everyone will be the key to helping accomplish that.