Corey Sanders came to Rutgers with a relatively solid pedigree. As a prep star at the point guard position, he was ranked #62 in ESPN.com‘s top 100 and checked in at #93 on 247sports. Not that anyone thought he was going to completely turn around Rutgers basketball in his freshman season, but the guard has had a bit of an uneven start to careeer. Some of this can be attributed to struggles in adapting to coach Eddie Jordan’s system of Princeton-like movements and cuts. An even bigger reason is that Rutgers has been decimated by injuries, as Deshawn Freeman, Shaquille Doorson and Ibrahima Diallo are all out for the season with various maladies. What that mean is that Rutgers, with only two players 6’8″ or taller, are playing small ball out of necessity. Correspondingly, that means it’s difficult to get a true read on how well Sanders is doing this season.
Corey Sanders is leading Rutgers in scoring despite an uneven first season for Eddie Jordan’s team. (Getty)
The freshman guard is averaging 13.3 PPG, 3.4 APG and 1.6 SPG while shooting 35.2 percent from behind the arc. His assist-to-turnover ratio is a solid if not spectacular 1.12. And when compared with some of the other notable Big Ten point guards’ freshman seasons, his efficiency numbers are generally comparable.
- Yogi Ferrell (105.3 O-Rating, 18.0 Usage, 45.4% eFG, 25.7% Asst Rate, 24.5 TO%, 1.6% Stls Rate, 30.3% 3pt)
- Mike Gesell (99.4 O-Rating, 20.2 Usage, 46.6% eFG, 22.5% Asst Rate, 20.5 TO%, 2.8% Stls Rate, 31.7% 3pt)
- Melo Trimble (116.5 O-Rating, 24.8 Usage, 53.4% eFG, 21.2% Asst Rate, 18.3 TO%, 2.3% Stls Rate, 41.2% 3pt)
- Derrick Walton (112.2 O-Rating, 18.2 Usage, 53.1% eFG, 19.8% Asst Rate, 19.9 TO%, 1.4% Stls Rate, 41.0% 3pt)
- Bryant McIntosh (101.4 O-Rating, 23.9 Usage, 48.4% eFG, 32.6% Asst Rate, 20.5 TO%, 0.5% Stls Rate, 36.4% 3pt)
- Corey Sanders (94.8 O-Rating, 25.0 Usage, 47.1% eFG, 23.6% Asst Rate, 21.9 TO%, 2.8% Stls Rate, 35.2% 3pt)
Sanders has a lower offensive rating than his peers listed above, but he also is playing for the worst team of the bunch and has a higher usage rate as a result. Some encouragement can be gleaned in that his numbers stack up comparably in assists and that he’s more of a pest defensively than some of his fellow lead guards were at the same stage. Rutgers as a team is turning the ball over too frequently (211th nationally), and some of that responsibility falls on Sanders’ shoulders. He often plays too fast, and as a result can be careless with the ball. His shooting should improve as early as next season when the injured post players are scheduled to return to the Scarlet Knights’ lineup, but he still needs to work on his shot selection. He’s taking too many contested looks because opponents can key on stopping the perimeter. Defensively, he gambles a bit too much in playing the passing lanes. In a recent game against Nebraska, Tai Webster and Glynn Watson Jr. blew by him repeatedly. As a result, the Cornhuskers got countless easy looks en route to shooting a robust 56.9 percent from the floor. He has the tools to become a lock-down defender, but his fundamentals still need some work to get there.
Regardless, the numbers clearly show that Sanders is having a solid first year. Sanders can become one of the better guards in the Big Ten given time to develop. A big key will be whether or not Jordan can surround him with more talent to work with. Otherwise, his numbers will likely improve but the team’s results will not.