McCreary been 'really impressive' to start preseason practice
The Gamecocks haven’t been practicing fully for more than maybe three weeks, but Frank Martin is already seeing the potential in one of his second-year players.
When asked about a potential breakout player for the 2020 season, Frank Martin didn’t really hesitate, saying Jalyn McCreary was in the middle of a really strong preseason and wouldn’t be shocked if a lot more people were talking about him in April.
“Jalyn’s been really impressive in practice so far,” Martin said. “That’s probably the guy I would end up saying we’ll be talking about in the spring where everyone wants to know what the heck happened and how he got to do all that stuff so much better. I think he’s vastly improved.”
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McCreary’s freshman season didn’t get off to a strong start, averaging just 2.9 points on 48.1 percent shooting in 10 minutes per game in non-conference play.
It took until three games into the SEC slate—after scoring six points on 3-for-4 shooting against Kentucky—for things to really click for him.
Over the Gamecocks’ final 15 games he averaged almost 13 minutes, 5.2 points and three rebounds. The biggest thing, though, was him shooting 61.1 percent from the field.
It’s that shot Martin’s seen an improvement in, and it’s contributing to an increased offensive presence in practice this year.
“I have no idea how, but his jump shot is going in the basket right now. He obviously spent a lot of time during COVID working on finding in it. He did,” Martin said. “Now, he’s playing with an aggression offensively. He’s one of those Shawn Marion, herky-jerky offensive players. It doesn’t’ look great but the ball goes in the basket.”
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The raw numbers might not show it, but McCreary was a really efficient offensive player last year, finishing with the fourth-highest offensive rating (108.7) in SEC play behind Justin Minaya, Alanzo Frink and Maik Kotsar.
He’s continued that, it appears, into preseason practice and his teammates have absolutely noticed.
“A lot of guys look really, really good,” Minaya said. “Jalyn McCreary is one of the guys I’ve seen improve and improve his jump shot.”
The Gamecocks lost Kotsar last year and are looking for production from the forward position, and McCreary could give them that.
AJ Lawson also said he’s seen a lot of improvement over a short period of time from the two freshmen bigs Patrick Iriel and Ja’Von Benson.
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“This year I feel like Jalyn’s stepped up with his shooting. The new freshmen, I feel like they’re being real smart with their decisions and are willing to learn and I like that,” he said. “They’re real hard workers. I feel like this is going to be a good year.”
