SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs' Jeremy Sochan's young NBA career is impressing his former Baylor basketball head coach, Scott Drew.
Speaking with the Baylor Lariat, Drew noted Sochan's NBA growth adding how the university is proud of him and recalled his ability to defend multiple positions.
“Obviously we’re really proud of Jeremy’s growth. He’s always been able to defend 1 through 5," Drew said.
This season, Sochan is posting 11.4 points per game including 5.2 rebounds and a career-high assist average at 4.2 per game.
Through 14 games played in November, he averaged 12.4 points per game with 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and a career-high 47% shooting from the three-point line.
Last season, he scored in double-figures in 35 games, was named to the 2023 NBA Rising Stars squad, and became the first and only teenager in San Antonio history to score 30-plus points in a single game versus the Suns on Jan. 28, 2023.
However, this season Sochan is being presented with a new challenge: Running the point guard spot.
Ahead of the Spurs' game versus Minnesota on Wednesday night, he's been trusted with the starting point guard position and it's been met with mixed reviews.
At times he looks flustered on the court and commits costly turnovers and teams have keyed on him to pressure him with the ball noting he is not a natural point guard.
He's even been vocal about getting mentally exhausted from adapting to the point guard spot but remains positive and confident. He's even improving in his new role as the season moves forward.
And that confidence from the Spurs' second-year player is not surprising for Drew.
"Jeremy is about winning and perfecting his craft and whatever helps him be successful and helps the win he's going to do," he said. "You're seeing that. I hope the Spurs have him for a long time."
The point guard spot might be new for him in the NBA but isn't completely new to Sochan overall.
At Baylor, Drew notes Sochan did run the point guard spot and did a solid job for the Bears.
"He’s always played some point guard for us, especially in the Kansas game here at home. But he’s done a great job," Drew said.
There's plenty of time left in the NBA season, the chance he could return to the starting point guard spot in the games ahead, and with each game, he will only improve and be a better all-around player.
His teammates are noticing his improvements as the floor general and beyond.
“We‘ve seen the improvements already,” Tre Jones said. “He’s gonna continue to grow as well, as we’ve seen.”