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Meet the team: Jamarion Batemon
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- Meet the team: Jamarion Batemon
Jamarion Batemon interviews during the Big 12 Media Days event at T-Mobile Center. | William Purnell-Imagn Images
After serving as an electric shooter from the bench, Jamarion Batemon will look to increase his role on a Cyclone roster that lost some significant pieces from beyond the arc in the off-season. Batemon is one of many recruits to come from Wisconsin during the Otzelberger tenure, hailing from Milwaukee.
Batemon was largely hot and cold throughout the season, bouncing between unstoppable from beyond the arc to some games being dreadful. If Batemon wants to maintain his starting spot in front of some other dynamic shooting guards, especially once Killyan Toure returns from injury.
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What does Batemon bring?
The immediate impact he has is from beyond the arc. Over two-thirds of his total field goal attempts came from beyond the arc, where he would shoot at a 37% clip. As is the life of a sharp shooter, Batemon had his highs and lows. Against Alcorn State, he went off for a season high 26 points while going 7-10 from deep. While everyone remembers the Heise three pointer against Houston, Batemon hit a huge three right before it to take a one point lead with 2:10 remaining in the game.
In the NCAA tournament, Batemon went just 3-15 from deep, which is certainly below what the Otzelberger staff is looking for. Defensively, Batemon recorded 21 steals, which is impressive once you account for the amount of minutes he averaged and having two of the best on ball defenders in the country taking some of those steal opportunities.
How will Batemon be used?
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Of the returning roster, Batemon has the highest three point average. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to expect Batemon to be used in a similar fashion as last year, but with more playing time with the departure of Milan Momcilovic. In the two exhibition games, Batemon has shot 4-15 from deep and amassed 22 points.
My personal take is that he is simply shaking off some of the rust of the off-season, and those totals should improve with games being played with more regularity. Defensively, Batemon will not be asked to defend whomever the leading scorer on the opposing team is, as that title will likely be taken on rotation of Jaquan Johnson, Tamin Lipsey and eventually Killyan Toure.
That doesn't mean that Batemon won't have a significant presence on defense, as he will often be asked to shut down the next available option as the first option either gets put in the toureture chamber, gets set in front of Lipsey, or just gets bullied by Jaquan Johnson. Another year in the Otzelberger defense, another year in the weight room, and hopefully another year of developing into the next Cyclone sharpshooter.
