2019 Hoops Player Review: Jacobi Gordon
Coming out of high school, Jacobi Gordon was considered one of the higher ranked recruits Cal has had in the past couple of classes. And then the swingman out of Houston missed all of his high school senior season with an Achilles Tendon injury — an injury that lingered into his first year at Cal causing him to shut his season down three games early after playing at Arizona State.
Gordon hit double digits in scoring once with a 10-point performance in 17 minutes of action against San Francisco. He also notched five rebounds in that game, which was probably his best and most efficient all-around performance on the season. Overall, Gordon appeared in 24 games, averaging about 10 minutes per game out of those.
With an offensive rating of 87.2 and average game score of 1.08, Gordon didn’t have the most efficient season on offense. Not surprisingly, that came down to shooting and ball control. Gordon shot just 30.6% from the field, connecting on eight out of 21 two-point shots and seven of 28 three-point shots. Shot selection might be an emphasis in the off-season. While Gordon showed range in high school, he also showed an adept ability to create off the dribble and finish at the rim through contact. Obviously, talent and athleticism of opponents will play a role in Gordon’s ability to translate those schools to Pac-12 competition, but it was a strength of his in high school.
Compared to similarly ranked wings at other schools, Gordon didn’t have much on-court impact. While none of the above players were freshmen game changers for their respective programs, Gordon saw less court time than all of them. Again, this was likely a result of Gordon not playing at 100% health all season, but it’s something to note.
As you can see (and as mentioned above), none of the above players had breakout freshmen seasons. An ORtg of 100 is average and 110 is considered decent and only three of these players made it to the 100 level. The assist and turnover rates also emphasize the need for Gordon to work a little bit more on ball control in the off-season.
Despite a rough first year, Gordon is still very much an intriguing talent. His size, length, and scoring ability is exactly where the college game is trending — a tall slasher that can also shoot deep shots will space the floor and spread defenses. An off-season to fully rehab the ankle and continue to work on his shot might be what is needed to make a big jump next year. Both Gordon and Matt Bradley could form a tough out for opponents on the perimeter moving forward.