At the suggestion of Twitter follower Chip Scutari, I’ll be profiling each returning Friar player, as well as, the new faces in Friartown for the 2016-17 season. Providence currently has 11 scholarship players rostered for next season.

Kyron Cartwright

• Junior
• 6’0 185 lbs
• 2015-16 Stats: 35 games played, 24.2 minutes/game, 5.9 points/game, 4.0 assists/game, 2.2 rebounds/game, 3FG 20/55 (36.4%), Assist Rate: 30.5%, Win Shares 1.7

2015-16 Season Recap

Kyron Cartwright returned to Providence for his sophomore season after Kris Dunn opted to return for his redshirt junior season, which meant Cartwright would mostly be Dunn’s backup again in 2015-16 season. The Compton, CA native didn’t seem to mind that role and even started 10 games, 7 of which were alongside Dunn.  As for his performance, Cartwright was solid, took care of the ball for the most part and blossomed into a leader as the season progressed.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fKir2fMykg]

Cartwright showed again last season that he is proficient at throwing lob and no-look passes — you can see for yourself in the above video — and he also improved as a 3-point shooter from 12.1% on 33 attempts as a freshman in 2014-15 to 36.4% on 55 attempts as a sophomore in 2015-16. Cartwright played 208 more minutes in 2015-16 than he did in his rookie season but only had 8 more turnovers last season in that extra time on the court.

What He Needs to Work on in the Offseason

Cartwright needs to find a balance between playing too fast and playing just fast enough. There were definitely times when he dribbled himself too far down the court leading to a bad shot or having to take an offensive foul. He can certainly get up the floor in a hurry but he needs to know when to hit the brakes and when to attack. The other thing Cartwright needs to work on is his mid-range jumpshot. Cartwright shot a paltry 26% on 2-point jumpers last season. He will probably be asked to shoot a bit more than the 5.7 shot attempts he averaged per game last season, so he either needs to improve his 2-point jump shooting or convert those shots to something he’s more effective at like layups or 3-pointers.

Outlook for Next Season

I want to say a little more about Cartwright’s budding leadership qualities. Ed Cooley referenced Cartwright’s ability to demand better from his teammates in huddles after a career-high 16 points to go along with 8 assists in 32 minutes starting in place of Dunn against DePaul on February 27th. I think that’s something that the 2016-17 Friars will need with no seniors on the roster and Cartwright being the player with the most game experience of anyone returning. There will still be times when he seems to be playing too fast or out of control, but I think you’ll see a confident leader and floor general when Cartwright steps on the court in 2016-17.

See more from this series:

Providence Player Evaluations: Rodney Bullock

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

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Mike Hopkins

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