2 Transfer Guards Look To Take a Leap With Wake Forest
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Steve Forbes and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been active at work trying to rebuild their roster for this next season. After a somewhat disappointing season, the Deacs lost multiple players to the transfer portal, including star guard Juke Harris. They only have one returner back from last season's roster, freshman guard Isaac Carr.
Losing players like sophomore standout and ACC Most Improved Player Juke Harris certainly stings. However, outside of Harris, the Deacs struggled to find any sort of consistency offensively and defensively. This roster-building phase gave a fresh opportunity for the coaches to retool the roster. Let's go through two guys who may be ready to take a jump with next year's squad.
Jamari McDowell
McDowell was a guy that Wake Forest pursued heavily out of high school. The 6' 5" guard was the sixth-ranked player in the state of Texas as a four-star prospect. Ultimately, he chose to go to Kansas and play for Bill Self.
He averaged a little over seven minutes a game as a freshman before redshirting the next year with injuries. This past year, he played 17 minutes a night for the Jayhawks. His stats do not necessarily blow you away. He averaged 3.3 points per game along with a little over one assist on 36% from the floor and 34.9% from three. Most of his shots came from beyond the arc.
His home/road splits are worth keeping an eye on. At home, he averaged five points per game and shot a supurb 43% from three. On the road, he shot just 22% from beyond the arc. If the Demon Deacons can get McDowell's home production consistently, they know they will at least have a knockdown shooter.
Playing in front of talented guys like the probable top-three pick, Darryn Peterson, along with guard Mevlin Council Jr., makes it hard to get consistent minutes and offensive opportunities. However, the potential is there with McDowell, as seen by the fact that he was a highly coveted prospect out of high school. The Deacs need to find a way to unlock his full offensive abilities, which include expanding his downhill driving game and skillset around the rim.
Justin Ray
Another guy the Deacs brought in this season is rising junior Justin Ray. The 6'3 guard comes from playing two seasons at Monmouth. Similar to McDowell, he played sparingly as a freshman, only 8.6 minutes per game. However, this season he averaged just over 28 minutes per game and took a major jump.
Ray showed his solid offensive and defensive capabilities this year. His biggest strength is definitely his ability as a knockdown three-point shooter. He averaged an outstanding 42% from three this season on 191 attempts. He also averaged just about 89% at the free-throw line. Over the course of the year, Ray averaged 11.3 points per game, the team's third leading scorer. With his addition, the Deacs know they are getting an absolute weapon from three-point range.
In addition to his good offensive game, Ray averaged just over a steal per game with the Hawks. This shows that he can also be a good defensive option for the Deacs on the perimeter. On-ball perimeter defense was something lacking for Wake this past year, so Ray should be able to slot in next to Isaac Carr and give another good defensive option.
Projected Starting Lineup
PG Kevair Kennedy
SG Jamari McDowell
SF Ring Nyeri
PF Gavin Placide
C Antonio Dorn
Bench: Isaac Carr, Justin Ray, Gallagher Placide, Xander Pintelon, Vincent Chaudhri
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Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.