Big West Basketball: In-depth look at Cal State Fullerton star Tray Maddox Jr.
By Bryan Mauro
Why you should know Tray Maddox Jr.
The senior guard arrived in Fullerton, CA after spending the first two years of his college career in Rochester, MI as a member of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The guard was a key contributor for Oakland his two seasons there and led the team in three-pointers made and minutes played during his sophomore season. Oakland shoots a ton of threes and Maddox Jr. made a lot of them and was relied on to shoot the ball from deep almost exclusively.
When the Novi, MI native arrived in California, he was looking to be the focal point of an offense, not just a three-point shooting specialist. The guard turned into one of the best pure scorers in the Big West as well as the best shooter in the conference and one of the best in the country. The guard led the conference in three-point shooting percentage at 41% and also led the conference with three-pointers made per game with three per contest.
In addition to becoming the best shooter in the conference, he also led the Titans in usage rate and offensive efficiency and finished third in shooting percentage overall. With his numbers from deep and his ability to score from levels Maddox Jr. has made himself the most dangerous offensive player in the Big West and arguably one of the most dangerous offensive players in the country.
As has already been discussed, the junior guard is going to be relied upon to shoot the ball from deep for the Titans. Maddox Jr. takes over half of his shots from deep and made about three of them per game. He was just about as efficient from two as he was from three and overall shot 45% from the floor en route to 16 points per game.
The one part of the game that Maddox has yet to really impact is his ability from the foul line. He doesn’t get fouled a lot, and he only shot 66% from the foul line last year when he did make it to the line. The senior guard has a great chance at not only making the first-team All-Big West but is likely going to be in the running for conference player of the year.