As basketball season approaches, we at FTRS will be breaking down the team player by player. Today, we take a look at Travis Jorgenson.
Recruitment
Jorgenson, a former three-star point guard recruit out of Columbia, MO, committed to Brian Gregory and the Jackets back in early February of 2013. A highly-regarded prospect at the time, Jorgenson chose to attend Tech over notable offers from Creighton, Boston College, Missouri, and Virginia. Despite standing at just 6 feet even and weighing only 184 pounds, Jorgenson played an aggressive and physical brand of basketball in high school which many schools found very enticing.
Jorgenson was, at the time, thought to be the best point guard recruit of the Brian Gregory era, at least in terms of scheme fit -- his pass-first persona and strong driving game promised to make the often-stagnant Tech offense run at a much higher level. Though it hasn't come together completely for him so far, the promise that Brian Gregory and company saw when they made him an offer remains evident. Let's take a look at what Jorgenson has accomplished so far.
History
Jorgenson's freshman season back in 2013 was ended just about before it started when he sustained an early-season ACL tear during Tech's game against Brain Gregory's former team, the Dayton Flyers. Because the injury occurred so early in the season, Jorgenson was able to take a redshirt year despite checking into game action; NCAA rules dictate that a player who sustains a season-ending injury but has played less than 30% of the season may take a redshirt. It is the same exception that was applied to safety Jamal Golden that same year.
It is never easy for an athlete to return from an ACL tear (particularly a point guard who relies on elusiveness and agility as much as Jorgenson does), but Travis bounced back in an impressive way. It is hard to argue that last season was a sweeping success for the Missouri product, although there were some promising signs along the way. Jorgenson led the team in assists at 3.3 per contest, an impressive total considering that he played just 21.7 minutes per game (compared to 30.9 for teammate Marcus Georges-Hunt, who led the team in the category).
As good as he was with the ball in his hands during 2014, Jorgenson struggled mightily with his shot at times last season. He finished the year with a meager 31.1 percent shooting percentage from everywhere on the floor, though his 30 percent three-point percentage was second-best among all Jackets behind only the since-departed Chris Bolden. That long-range shot of his, as good as it was, scared me a few times last year because of how slow-developing it appeared to be. It very well could be (and probably is) a non-issue, but it will be interesting to see if he's altered it at all this season.
My favorite stat from Jorgenson was his free throw percentage, which stood at a clean 75 percent for the season. That was one of the best percentages on the team, the overall percentage of which was just 64.8 percent, good for 312th in the nation. While it's true that Jorgeson didn't have many opportunities from the line last year -- he appeared hesitant to drive at times (and I don't blame him) -- it is still encouraging.
This Season
The 2015 season will be Jorgenson's redshirt sophomore campaign on The Flats. He currently sits in that gray area between being a veteran and an inexperienced player, having played only one full season but also having practiced with the team for another full calendar year. I expect him to come out and prove to everyone why he was handed the keys to the offense as a redshirt freshman by having a breakout year. The pieces are finally around him for a successful campaign and I'm confident that he will be able to take advantage. He won't score a ton of points, but don't be surprised to see a more experienced -- and fully healthy -- Travis Jorgenson tear it up all season long. He promises to be a floor general for a team which badly needs one and hasn't truly had one since the departure of Mfon Udofia. His passing is deadly and an added perimeter game could make him a player to watch in the ACC.