How Will OSU Handle the PG Position This Season?

How differently would this season be viewed among fans if Jawun Evans had decided to return for another year at OSU?

First-time head coach Mike Boynton would have a proven scorer and distributor to put alongside preseason All-Big 12 first team candidate Jeff Carroll, and this team would undeniably be viewed as a mid-tier conference squad, rather than being picked to finish last by Big 12 coaches in the preseason.

Instead, OSU enters the 2017 season Friday with a mostly unknown commodity at point guard in graduate transfer Kendall Smith. The former C-Sun standout who averaged 16.7 points per game will begin the season running the first team as the new starter. Smith began his career at UNLV before two dazzling seasons at C-Sun, and in OSU’s exhibition last week, he showed signs of emerging as a go-to offensive option for OSU.

“It was a first game, I didn’t think he was at his best,” Boynton said of Smith. “He showed some flashes of things he’s potentially capable of doing for us. Right now he’s got to learn how to take more leadership out there on the floor and be more of a vocal leader out there. In terms of trying to get guys in position to score, he did a really good job of that. Then he tried to pick his spots where he could score himself.”

Check out the raw highlights from last night's 85-65 exhibition win over Arkansas-Monticello. #letswork #okstate pic.twitter.com/MTuwyse0FE

— Cowboy Basketball (@OSUMBB) November 4, 2017

Smith is the starter now and moving forward. Barring any major blunders, second year point Brandon Averette will back up Smith, and true freshman Zach Dawson can rover in and out of on-ball and off-ball duties as he adjusts to Big 12 competition.

Averette showed flashes last season as a reliable ball-handler, and while he struggled to adapt to scoring against Big 12 defenses, he appears to have improved in that department — as well as on defense — based off his performance against Arkansas-Monticello last weekend.

“That’s one of the things we’ve talked to him about is just being a guy who can be a dynamic game changer for us, specifically on the defensive end,” said Boynton. “He’s another guy who can step up that pressure even more. I was really proud of his effort on the ball defensively.”

Don’t expect four-star freshman Zach Dawson to come in and take the job at point right away because of his high school pedigree. Dawson is an incredible talent, but he may be better suited at the 2-guard — a position OSU is stacked at right now. However he has the ability to run the offense if called upon, and could be an X-factor on a relatively mysterious squad that will need offensive production from a previous no-name to compete in 2017. Dawson, Tavarius Shine and Kendall Smith could all feasibly fill that role this season.