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Authored by Christopher Reina - 3rd December, 2007 - 7:21 pm
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Davon Jefferson, a 21-year-old freshman for Southern California, has become one of the most intriguing combo forwards in college basketball.
He was a highly touted recruit out of Lynwood, California and was slated to attend UNLV but did not qualify academically. Subsequently, he went on to play for The Patterson School, where he averaged 20 and 12.
Head Coach Tim Floyd kept him out of the Trojans’ first three games since he had missed a great deal of practice, but ever since a breakout performance in their 70-45 win over Southern Illinois in the Anaheim Classic Championship game, Jefferson has been USC’s most consistent player becoming as essential as Taj Gibson and developing a great rapport with O.J. Mayo.
Jefferson is a long 6-8 who has shown a host of skills that make him an excellent prospect, averaging 20 points over his past three games on 63% shooting.
His offensive game is varied, as he is adept at scoring off the dribble as well as having an effective mid-range jumper. But what is most notable about Jefferson is his tremendously instinctive knack to be perfectly positioned on put-backs. He will have an excellent offensive/defensive rebounding ratio on the NBA level, giving his team many very valuable second chance points.
Jefferson’s ball-handling skills need much development, but he shows promise especially because of how balanced he is. His ability to get to the basket from the high post is reminiscent of Stephen Jackson. He is almost always effective with the dribble even though it sometimes looks a little sloppy.
His decision-making is a little questionable at times, which comes from trying to do too much but will certainly progress as he matures as a ball-player.
He does a great job fronting the post and keeping a body on bigger players as he has shown against Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Kansas’ Darrell Arthur, both of whom struggled when matched up against him.
Beyond his work in the post, Jefferson defends the pick-and-roll well, his long arms are active in the passing lanes, he takes charges and also is a cerebral shot-blocker, not merely an athletic one.
Jefferson will likely fall into that multi-dimensional and ever increasingly useful Jamario Moon niche, albeit on a more direct route to the NBA as a late first rounder. |
