Jarrid Famous

Jonathan Givony

A non-qualifier academically out of high school, and then again out of prep school, Jarrid Famous took a long road from the Bronx to playing NCAA division I basketball, but finally made his debut this past season for South Florida. He only has one season of eligibility left as a junior college transfer, but could be a player to keep an eye on based on his excellent physical tools and solid production in the Big East conference.

Famous is a fairly rare specimen from a physical standpoint , standing 6-11, with nice length and a frame that can definitely still fill out. He is a very mobile big man who runs the floor well and is pretty explosive getting off his feet. Simply put, players with Famous' size and athleticism don't grow on trees, and they'll always get the benefit of the doubt in the evaluation process for that reason.

Offensively, Famous is mostly a complimentary piece, the type of player who gets his points in transition, on the offensive glass, and finishing plays created for him by others around the basket. He has the length and explosiveness to play above the rim and will do so impressively at times, but tends to struggle with contact and definitely isn't the most contact-loving big man you'll find. Famous doesn't have much of a post-game for that reason and he struggles putting the ball on the floor.

From the perimeter he is very limited as he possesses little in the ways of a jump shot and only coverts 63% of his free throw attempts. His decision making is fairly poor, recording four turnovers for every assist he dishes out, showing a feel for the game that can't be described as being anything more than average at best.

Famous does get to the free throw line at a solid rate and is capable of making his presence felt on the offensive glass. His quickness causes problems for many of the big men he matches up with at the college basketball level, and is something he can continue to develop into an advantage, particularly with the way he runs the floor.

Defensively, Famous has some excellent tools to work with, as he has great size, length and mobility for his position and could develop into a very effective matchup down the road, especially with his ability to switch on the pick and roll.

Unfortunately that doesn't help him very much right now, as he simply lacks the fundamentals and awareness needed to be effective at the moment, and he's frequently targeted for isolation plays both in the post and on the perimeter by opposing coaches, often with great success. Famous tends to gamble a lot on this end of the floor and clearly isn't as tough or active as you would like to see from a big man with his physical tools, something he needs to improve significantly if he's to have any chance of making the NBA. While he's an above average rebounder offensively, the same can't be said about his production on the defensive end. Getting stronger should help in this regard, but at the same time, Famous must improve his effort level as well.

Famous isn't in an optimal situation by any stretch of the imagination going into this upcoming season, as the next best player on South Florida's roster –Gus Gilchrist--happens to play the same position as him and is clearly too heavy to be overly effective at the 4, certainly at the NCAA level.

South Florida's methodical offense was somewhat of a one man (Dominique Jones) show last year, and that definitely made Famous' weaknesses much more glaring than they would in a more normal setting. When Gilchrist was out for nearly a two month stretch from mid-December to mid-February Famous had some of his best games of the season, but saw his field goal attempts and overall production whittled down to very little once Gilchrist came back.

Despite his shortcomings, Famous is the type of player who could improve rapidly in just his second season of college basketball, and will likely still hold a certain amount of intrigue for NBA teams regardless going into the draft process this upcoming spring. His intriguing physical tools could certainly tease someone into taking a flyer on him in June even, ala Magnum Rolle last year.