Once again, Syracuse has pulled a player out of the transfer portal, landing their starting point guard from conference rival Georgia Tech in Naithan George. The Toronto native had a pretty good trip to the JMA Wireless Dome this past season, posting 13 points, five assists, and five rebounds in a loss to the Orange on January 7. The 6’3” point guard was on a few leaderboards this season, ranking first in the ACC and 11th nationally in assists with 6.5 per game and second in the conference in minutes at 35.6 per game.
In addition to taking some of the sting out of the Yellow Jackets, here is what Syracuse is bringing in through George’s commitment:
Ranked as a top-30 transfer by multiple outlets, including #15 by ESPN, the Orange are getting one of the better available point guards in the portal. George did not play in his first three collegiate games, came off the bench once, then started the last 62 contests for Georgia Tech.
George has been a strong set-up man in college, logging an assist rate over 30 percent in both seasons, including this season’s 34.6 mark. While he has carried the elevated turnover rate that often comes with a dominant ballhandler, George still controlled the ball well enough to log assist-to-turnover rates of 2.25- and 2.15-to-1.
Those solid distribution skills offset his still-developing shooting, as George has improved his 3-point marksmanship from 31.4 percent as a freshman to 33.9 percent as a sophomore, including a sharp increase in attempts from 102 to 177. His improvement from 69.0 to 78.9 percent at the free throw line over those two seasons suggests that perimeter percentage is not yet at its ceiling.
Almost half of George’s field goal attempts this past season came from beyond the arc and he has shown a nice mixture of catch-and-shoot and created 3’s, as 27 of his 60 treys were assisted this past season.
George has also been effective in the mid-range, shooting 44.6 percent on “far 2’s” over his two collegiate seasons. Unfortunately, he has struggled to finish at the rim during that time, shooting 53.8 percent on “close 2’s” as a freshman and 49.2 percent this past season.
On the other end of the floor, George had a pretty significant improvement between his first two seasons. His steal rate jumped from 0.7 to 1.8 and his defensive win shares increased from 0.3 to 1.5, surpassing his offensive win share total this past season. That improvement was coupled with a significant decrease in fouls per 100 possessions, which dropped from 3.2 to 2.5. In all, George should start as a solid defender for the Orange at the point.
George’s commitment is the best of the three that Syracuse has secured to this point of the offseason. He will slide directly into the starting lineup at point guard, keeping J.J. Starling off the ball. With the nine players currently on the roster, George is the only transfer who is a definite starter, as Nate Kingz could end up a bench option if a starting small forward is brought in while William Kyle III profiles as an energetic bench forward-center.
George provides a legitimate floor at the point guard position and should be able to make things easier for ...
