Returning 5A Stat Leaders: Top Assist Men

<p>There’s an abundance of great players coming back for the 2020-21 season at the 6A level and many of them were huge contributors already this past season. Last year’s senior class was deep at the point guard spot and many have moved on to the college level. There are some talented floor leaders back and some could be on pace to put up big numbers this upcoming season.</p> <p>Here are the top returning assist men for 2020-21.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857351" first="Jordan" last="McCarty"] (2022 Silverton) - 5.2 apg - #5</strong></p> <p>His college future may be on the gridiron as a quarterback but McCarty gets it done on the basketball floor as well. Sharing point guard duties with [player_tooltip player_id="604215" first="David" last="Gonzales"], the 6-foot-1 junior has a great feel for the game as a floor leader - not surprising since he’s the coach’s son - and can really push the ball up the floor in the Silver Foxes’ transition attack. With Gonzales off to Corban, McCarty’s assist numbers should really rise.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="606253" first="Damontae" last="Burns"] (2021 Parkrose) - 5 apg - #7</strong></p> <p>A natural scorer, Burns has been making the transition over to playing the point and has done so with great success the past two seasons. The 6-foot-1 senior is athletic and has a quick first step past his defender but can put his mindset where he looks to get the ball to open teammates for scores, often with some flair. "Tay Tay" will have the ball in his hands even more as a senior and his assist totals should increase.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="857343" first="Samaje" last="Morgan"] (2022 Churchill) - 4.4 apg - #9</strong></p> <p>After coming off the bench as a freshman, Morgan stepped into the starting lineup and was a huge part of Churchill’s two point guard attack along with [player_tooltip player_id="625635" first="Silas" last="Bennion"]. The 5-foot-9 could be one of the quickest guards in the state from end to end and he’s got a great drive and kick game. The show is now all Morgan’s to run his junior season and while he’ll need to score more this year but he should still rack up plenty of dimes.</p> <p><strong>Charlie Rawlins (2021 Redmond) - 4.2 apg - #11</strong></p> <p>Most of the top point guards in 5A are also scorers but Rawlins is a guy that really looks to pass first. He looks to penetrate and get into the lane to draw the defense and then dish it out to teammates. At 5-foot-8 he lacks some size but he’s very quick pushing the ball up the floor and he’s good at spotting open teammates spotting up for three.</p> <p><strong>Jesse Sanchez (2021 Crook County) - 3.5 apg - #14</strong></p> <p>Most would likely see Sanchez as a spot-up shooter - after all 31 of his 40 field goals on the year were threes - but he’s also a very willing passer having led Crook County in assists this past season. The 5-foot-10 senior also takes good care of the ball as he boasted an assist-to-turnover ratio of over 1.5.</p>