NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 3-star guard TJ Caldwell top 8 teams

TJ Caldwell is a three-star prospect in the 2022 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. He’s a 6’4 shooting guard with good size and is known for his athleticism, which has made up for a somewhat lack of shooting and ball-handling.

Currently ranked`around 200 nationally according to 247sportsComposite, Caldwell is likely to rise up the rankings when it’s all said and done. As his skillset improves and evolves, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as a four-star prospect. And that’s why many power conference programs are looking to scoop up the Texas native early before he blows up.

There are now eight programs in the mix to land Caldwell, with each of them having something different to offer the shooting guard recruit. Here’s how I would analyze his potential fit with them.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Guards have had success individually under head coach Bobby Hurley, even if the wins haven’t come as consistently. After losing several guards this offseason, the Sun Devils added multiple ball-handlers, including Jay Heath and D.J. Horne.

The issue here is that Arizona State added a couple of shooting guards in the 2022 class, including  Justin Rochelin and four-star Demari Williams. If either of those two proves to be a rotational piece, it’ll be an uphill climb for Caldwell to crack the rotation early on and he’ll have to play behind at least one of them for a couple of years.

Maryland Terrapins

The Terrapins are just fine at shooting guard for next season, thanks to the return of Eric Ayala and grad transfer pickup Xavier Green. But once they leave, that opens things up for players such as Caldwell to potentially crack the rotation. There is Utah transfer Ian Martinez but he didn’t have much of an impact at his last stop so you can’t automatically assume things will be better at Maryland.

Caldwell is the kind of player that head coach Mark Turgeon likes; a 3-4 year project with raw potential that just needs development. The three-star guard can find ways to warrant minutes early before eventually ending up as a starter. If he’s willing to leave the state of Texas, this could be a good landing spot.