BYU Basketball: Three Things to Know about Te'Jon Lucas
After months of recruiting the transfer portal, Mark Pope and staff landed their playmaking guard. On Wednesday, Milwaukee transfer guard Te'Jon Lucas committed to BYU over fellow finalists Utah, Nevada, DePaul, and New Mexico State. He also heard from the likes of Arkansas, Texas Tech, Georgia, Marquette, and St John's after entering the transfer portal earlier this month. Here are three things to know about Te'Jon Lucas.
1. Well Rounded
Lucas is an experienced player that averaged 14.9 points per game, 5.6 assists per game, and 4.6 rebounds per game for Milwaukee last season. Few players stuff the stats sheet like Lucas - he was one of only five players in the country last year to average more than 14.0 points per game, more than 5.0 assists per game, and more than 4.5 rebounds per game.
2. Impacts the Game in Various Ways
Over the last two years, Milwaukee has played at Kansas, at Kansas State, and at Wisconsin. In those three games, Lucas did not shoot efficiently from the floor in those games, he shot just 32%. Even when his shot wasn't falling, he was able to impact the game.
Against Kansas State, Lucas scored 11 points on 2/10 shooting. More impressively, he added 9 assists and 5 rebounds. He was able to get to the line and shoot 8 free throws.
Against Wisconsin, he shot 4/10 from the field. He had 10 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds.
Against #2 Kansas, he had 11 points on 4/11 shooting. He added 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
If Alex Barcello returns for another season, Barcello and Lucas could be a dynamic backcourt pair. Alex Barcello is a very efficient scorer, so BYU could overcome a few inefficient nights from Lucas.
3. Assist Rate
According to Ken Pomeroy, Lucas ranked #21 in the country in assist rate last season. KenPom's definition of assist rate is the "assists divided by the field goals made by the player’s teammates while he is on the court." Lucas assisted on 37% of the field goals when he was on the court.
BYU has guys like Trevin Knell, Caleb Lohner, and Spencer Johnson that are capable shooters, but struggle to consistently create their own shot. Adding Lucas to the roster will create open looks for those guys.
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