Marcus Carr is a 6’2, 195-lb point guard who transferred from Minnesota to Texas for the 2021-22 season. Last year with the Golden Gophers, Carr averaged 19.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 4.9 APG. Those are star numbers, and he stands out on a roster full of guys that stood out already.

One of the most impressive things about Marcus Carr is his ability to score in late-game situations; he has the “clutch” gene. He hit several late-game shots last year, including the following basket against Loyola Marymount at the beginning of the season. Watch how he uses the step-back to create separation. Though the defense recovers well, it doesn’t matter. He drains the shot to take the lead with three seconds left.

Here’s another example of his hitting a game-deciding shot, this time against conference rival Ohio State. Notice the crossover to shake the first defender. He then uses the screen to force the switch, giving him the space he needs to get the basket.

Another late-game situation, another huge make. Watch him spin off the defender to lead him into the screen, which the Iowa player fails to fight over top of. This gives Carr room to drill the triple.

While he isn’t statistically a great three-point shooter (31.7% on the season last year), the mechanics are almost there, evidenced by his 79.9% from the FT line. He was also asked to shoot quite a bit as the Gophers’ only real offensive option, and some of those were late-in-the-shot-clock heaves.

Here’s another example of his step-back.

He’s a great finisher at the rim, contorting his body around defenders and using his touch for difficult buckets. You can see this below, where he also draws the foul. With his free-throw shooting prowess, he makes these trips to the line count.

In his 41-point outburst versus Nebraska, he takes the ball from the half court to the rack and lays it in with an impressive reverse.

As displayed here, he possesses an innate ability to score on drives. He’s really quick once he gets going. Though he didn’t have a great FG% on the year in general (38.5%), he was asked to do everything offensively for Minnesota. I referenced before that he had to take a lot of bad shots towards the end of possessions to avoid turnovers.

Another thing that Carr excels at outside of scoring is his facilitation - he averaged 4.9 assists to just 2.3 turnovers per game, despite a usage percentage of 28.5%. For reference, Cade Cunningham had a similar usage percentage of 29.1% in his lone year at Oklahoma State. Cade also averaged 4.0 turnovers per game, nearly twice as many as Carr did.

Here, he struggles to get dribble penetration against the zone, so he whips the ball out to forward Brandon Johnson for the three. Despite having the front of the zone swarm him, he is able to get the pass off without being intercepted or stripped.

He’s a good passer in the pick ‘n’ roll as well. Watch this clip from a game he played in this G-League Elite Camp Scrimmage. He uses the screen to drive to the basket, but doesn’t speed up or slow down too much, maintaining his pace as he waits for the roll man to get into position.

On this play, he escapes the trap at the three-point line with a beautiful cross-court pass for the open shot from deep.

Luckily for Carr, his new roster has enough offensive talent to make it so that he won’t be dealing with schemes specifically built to stop him as regularly. As I’ve said before, Carr was the offense for Minnesota last year. He averaged a little over six three-point attempts per game this past season; he won’t need to shoot as much to be effective in this offense. Nobody on his team last year shot over 33% from three.

This will not be the case on this Texas roster, with Tre Mitchell’s average of 37.5%, Courtney Ramey’s 41.4%, and Jase Febres’ 39.2% (though he doesn't get a ton of playing time, I think he may get more opportunities this year coming off of the bench as a shooter). Andrew Jones finished at 33.8%, which would’ve led the Gophers. The freshman Jaylon Tyson also shot very well from three in high school (45% according to MaxPreps). While Carr’s scoring may take a dip because of the amount of weapons around him, his assists will almost certainly increase.

Defensively, he’s solid. He’s not big for his position at 6’2, but is quick to help make up for it. He averaged 1.3 steals in his junior season, good for first on the team, and finished second on his team in defensive win shares. His amount of steals per game would have led the Longhorns last year, so it’s a nice addition in that sense as well.

Here’s an example of his defense. He’s too quick for the screener to stop him, and he intercepts the dribble handoff, taking it down court for a transition opportunity.

He’s also a decent rebounder for his size, averaging four per game. This illustrates effort and motor; he would have finished second amongst guards in that category on last year's Texas team.

Overall, the knock on Carr is his inefficiency, but again, he wasn’t exactly put in the right circumstances to succeed from that standpoint. He on average took 15.6 shots per game, which is not going to be required of him this season. With options like Tre Mitchell (18.8 PPG), Timmy Allen (17.2 PPG), Andrew Jones (14.6 PPG), and Dylan Disu (15 PPG), there will be no shortage of offensive firepower for Carr to work with.

As much talent is on this team, Carr is going to be the person in late-game situations that Texas goes to in order to get a bucket. He’s that kind of player.

@KeenanWomack_OB