The quickest way to fill a void at point guard is to sign a junior college transfer, as four Front Range Division I men’s basketball programs did in the past year.
The tough part comes in living with the headaches.
The erratic play of transfers – sometimes from possession to possession – can leave coaches feeling elated one moment and frustrated the next.
“All junior college guys go through a transition period when they come to this level,” Colorado State coach Dale Layer said. “But at point guard it’s even more glaring because they have the ball.”
Layer’s playmaker, Cory Lewis, from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, has shown the most consistency among the area’s new point guards. But even he has fallen into occasional funks. He committed five turnovers against Auburn. He played 33 minutes against Colorado without recording an assist. Fortunately, CSU won both games.
As for the others, their introduction to Division I basketball has been full of hiccups.
Colorado’s Dominique Coleman lost his starting job after two games.
“It takes some transfers awhile to admit they have to change some things,” CU coach Ricardo Patton said. “There’s a tug of war going on with the coach. They fight it.”
Denver’s Alex Cox, meanwhile, has more turnovers (23) than assists (15). And Wyoming’s Brad Jones leads the Cowboys in turnovers (4.3 per game) and is making just 31.9 percent of his shots. Such are the growing pains for most newcomers at a high-pressure position.
Coleman arrived at Colorado billed as one of the nation’s top point guard prospects, averaging 27 points last season at Hillsborough College in Tampa, Fla. After committing four turnovers in 14 minutes against CSU, Patton replaced him with junior Marcus Hall, formerly a shooting guard.
“I’ve been passive and not as aggressive out there as I need to be,” Coleman said. “I just need to get comfortable and not rush everything.”
He is trying to keep his spirits up. It hasn’t helped that family and friends in Florida wonder why he is averaging only 6.6 points.
“Dominique has to find other things he can do on the court that will satisfy him,” Hall said.
Colorado State senior Micheal Morris could see confusion in Coleman’s eyes during the Rams’ 83-82 victory over CU. Morris wasn’t surprised. During his four years in Fort Collins, he has seen few transfers live up to their hype, at least initially.
“Most of the juco guys come in thinking they’re going to shoot the ball every other time down the court,” Morris said. “It doesn’t happen that way at this level.”
Patton hasn’t given up on Coleman. He continues to call him “a terrific talent” and added there is plenty of time for him to reach his potential. But, Patton said, Coleman must realize it’s a much different game at the Division I level. Most junior college teams love to run and gun. Few pay much attention to defense.
At the Division I level, even teams that fancy an up-tempo pace need their point guard to run a half-court set on occasion. Major-college guards are asked to read defenses and call out plays or alignments at both ends of the court.
Everything happens much faster, before bigger crowds, under more pressure.
DU’s Cox, an Australian, is 24 and more mature than most transfers.
“That has helped him,” Pioneers coach Terry Carroll said. “But it’s still been difficult. We’re requiring him to do more things on the court than he’s ever had to do.”
Junior college transfers often arrive with bad habits, too. Most new point guards believe they can bust traps by dribbling through a double team. That may have worked in juco ball, but bigger, stronger Division I defenders can prevent that.
“Things guys did on the basketball court in junior college, they can’t get away with at this level,” Patton said.
CSU’s Lewis said he played mostly in a half-court offense at Dodge City. This year he had to adjust to a quicker style, the reverse of what most junior college transfers go through.
“It’s probably easier to go from half-court to running,” Lewis said. “But even with this, I have a lot to learn.”
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
