Prospect Spotlight: Connor Hobbs (2017)
If the summer team camp period was any indication, Regis Jesuit will be leaning a little more on youth than it has in past seasons. And that certainly could be a good thing given the talent of rising juniors Sam…
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Continue ReadingIf the summer team camp period was any indication, Regis Jesuit will be leaning a little more on youth than it has in past seasons. And that certainly could be a good thing given the talent of rising juniors Sam Bannec and Elijah Martinez and rising sophomore Jamil Saffiedine, among others.
But rare is the championship team that doesn’t have strong senior leaders, and the Raiders will certainly have one of those in rising senior Connor Hobbs.
The 5-foot-11 point guard averaged 6.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game last year, while showing an ability to make clutch plays down the stretch for the Raiders. Now, he’s anxious to take a key role on a team that will plugging a lot of new players into major varsity roles.
“Coach (Ken) Shaw has just told me that I have to step up vocally as a leader,” Hobbs said. “Last year we had Geoff Kelly, who was a crazy good leader. I think it’s just me stepping up as a leader on the court, and the also on the bench. I think in past years I’ve been hesitant to score, or things like that, because they are older guys above me, but he’s really empowered me to look for my shot and put it up this year. That’s just really what he’s been telling me a lot.”
Few teams put in the work during June and other parts of the summer like Regis — “Our practices are like practices during the season,” Hobbs said — and the veteran guard, who decided to forgo the club season in July, said he made major strides with his jump shot. We saw strong consistency out of Hobbs in that area during his play at Metro State team camp and the C3 Challenge in June.
“I’ve been working on my shot a lot,” said Hobbs, who shot 34 percent from beyond the arc as a junior. “With Regis being who we are, we really like to shoot the ball. When I came to Regis, I didn’t really have a shot at all. And think over these past two years, and especially this summer, I’ve really been getting my shot up. I think that’s been a big thing. And we have a lot other good shooters as well, and I think just driving and kicking to them will get us a lot of open shots. So driving off my shot and looking for kick outs is another thing.”
Hobbs will get an opportunity to show his worth as a shooter and a playmaker with a big backcourt role this season. And the point guard’s hope is that he can show a school at the small-college level that he has the talent to play at the next level, and the intangibles to help a program.
“I like to think of myself as a hard-nosed player,” he said. “I like to get up into people defensively. I think that’s one of my bigger strengths, as an energy guy. And then I think just playmaking. Last year, I think I was our fourth-leading scorer, but I also really look to make plays for teammates and get them shots.”