Going into the 2017-18 season, one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Seton Hall men’s basketball team was how senior Khadeen Carrington would adjust to the full-time point guard role with Madison Jones gone.
Three games into the season, Carrington has put up a total of 15 assists and has shot 45 percent from the field. He totaled six assists in the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 10 on Sunday against Monmouth and five against Indiana on Wednesday night.
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Photo via Greg Medina/Photography Editor[/caption]
Is it fair to judge Carrington at this new position after just three games? Not at all.
For reference, let’s look back to the 2015-16 season when former Pirate guard Isaiah Whitehead went through the same transition. After Sterling Gibbs left the program, Whitehead, then a sophomore, was thrown into the fire and asked to play the point guard position.
It looked to be a major success at first, when he totaled eight assists in the season opener against Dartmouth. However, over his next 10 games, he quieted down a bit in the assists department, averaging just 3.1 per game. Whitehead was still able to score in bunches, but he was not a weapon as a facilitator.
He broke out in the final non-conference game of the season against South Florida, when he scored just six points but tallied 10 assists in a 66-49 victory. He then had 16 assists combined in his first two Big East games, adding up to a three-game stretch in which he totaled 26 assists. Whitehead went on to average 5.6 assists per game in Big East play, and averaged 5.1 assists per game for the entire season.
This is not trying to say that Carrington is the second coming of Whitehead. The argument here is that three games is not a valid enough sample size to judge Carrington, whether positively or negatively, at playing point guard.
Fans have also called Carrington’s shooting touch into question so far this year, as he has only hit three shots from downtown so far this season.
Through two games, Carrington is shooting 15-33 from the field.Whitehead’s first two games in 2015? 17-for- 56 from the field.
These positional transitions do not happen overnight. Whitehead did not find his groove at the point guard position on a consistent basis until late December, so judging Carrington after just two games running the offense is unfair.
Pirate fans need to show some patience with Carrington. With each passing game, the veteran leader is bound to improve in his new role.
Matt Ambrose can be reached at matthew.ambrose1@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @mambrose97.
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