Ajay Mitchell: The West Coast Conference's Next NBA Star?
The West Coast Conference is one of those “mid-major” conferences that nearly always has teams make runs in the NCAA Tournament and consistently puts players in the NBA.
The conference has produced players like Jalen Williams (Santa Clara), Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara), Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine), Kessler Edwards (Pepperdine), Jock Landale (Saint Mary's), Patty Mills (St. Mary's), and then, from Gonzaga: Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura, Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs, Andrew Nembhard, Kelly Olynyk, Julian Strawther, Chet Holmgren, Zach Collins, Brandon Clarke, and more.
In case you're missing my point, "mid-major" seems misapplied in this instance.
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Mitchell is an offensive player, through and through. The vast majority of his value at the next level relies upon his offensive output.
Luckily, the offensive output hasn’t been a question this year.
Averaging over 20 points per game on the season, Mitchell is a heliocentric star with a usage rate north of 30%. He also shoots 51% from the field, which, for a guard, is incredibly efficient.
He’s not simply a scoring threat, though.
In addition to scoring prowess, Mitchell is an excellent facilitator. Against UC-Davis, Mitchell had no points through the first six minutes, but significantly impacted that stretch of the game by recording four assists.
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Of course, he would end up with 25 points after not scoring for the first nearly sixth of the game. If that's not an indication of "microwave" scoring ability, then what is?
Part of the impressive nature of Mitchell's game is his all-around offensive ability in both scoring and distributing, which he can do in on- or off-ball scenarios.
This is important in case he lands on a team that already has a lead guard, or plays minutes with someone else who is ball dominant. He doesn't have to have the ball in his hands all the time to be an effective cog.
He's also extremely effective in transition – two of his first four assists against UC-Davis were simple tosses up the court in the fast break, allowing for two easy layups.
A sequence resulting in one of the layups began with an Ajay Mitchell steal as well – he read a pass on the perimeter, jumping the route and picking it off before sending it up court for a transition bucket.
He has some defensive awareness, even if defense isn't particularly his strong suit (at least opposed to his strong offensive game).
Additionally, he can finish at the rim very well – in fact, he's so efficient across the board that he has a rating on Synergy Sports of "Excellent," ranking amongst the 72nd percentile of points per shot.
At the rim, he's "Very Good," ranking 66th percentile at rim finishing with 1.23 points per shot. He's great at shooting off the bounce as well, comprising of over 60% of his takes from the field.
He's averaging 0.88 points per shot on such attempts, which puts him at the 63rd percentile in the NCAA. He's also 84th percentile on catch-and-shoot attempts.
With his volume, these stats are eye popping. Grading this well efficiency-wise while still averaging 20+ points per game is an indication of his offensive prowess, which is what will put him in the NBA. While his defense isn't considered his strength, he still impacts the game on this end of the floor, even if he's not an elite defensive player all around.
Overall, Mitchell is a first-round talent playing in a conference that has already, as I've mentioned, produced plenty of professional basketball talent. He has the offensive game of a guy that could average 12+ as a rookie, depending on time played and attempts, of course.
Mitchell has the potential to be the next great West Coast Conference rookie.
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