Colorado State fills a need by landing transfer Antwan Scott
Nearly two months after the unexpected departure of starter Jon Octeus left Colorado State without an experienced point guard on its roster, the Rams may have taken a step toward solving that problem.
Point guard Antwan Scott, Grambling State's leading scorer this past season, announced Monday night via Twitter that he will transfer to Colorado State for his final collegiate season. Scott also received interest from the likes of Tennessee, Memphis and Arkansas this month because the 6-foot-1 rising senior received his degree from Grambling and will be eligible immediately next season.
Whether Scott can replace Octeus in Colorado State's starting lineup will probably depend on how well he handles the transition to a higher level of competition in the Mountain West than the SWAC. The Dallas native averaged 15.7 points per game as a junior at Grambling and sank 39.2 percent of his threes, but it's concerning that his 3.6 turnovers per game nearly matched his 3.7 assists.
At the very least, Colorado State will be getting a player highly motivated both to play for a winning program and to prove himself against superior competition.
Grambling went 0-28 during the 2012-13 season and 5-24 last season. With a new coach coming in and the prospect of more rebuilding on the horizon, Scott sought a higher-profile program where he'd have more talent around him and a better chance to show he can play professionally somewhere in the future.
With leading scorers J.J. Avila and Daniel Bejarano both returning from last year's 16-16 season, Colorado State has a chance to make a big step forward if it can solve its point guard issues. Scott will likely compete for the starting job with newcomer John Gillon and Bejarano, a combo guard who thrived last season playing off ball.
In his final season at Colorado State before transferring to UCLA earlier this summer, Octeus averaged 13.4 points per game and provided excellent leadership, clutch shooting and off-ball defense.
It's unlikely Scott will be able to replace all that, but it would help the Rams considerably if he can at least soften the blow.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
