As Hawkeye said in “The Avengers” right before Loki arrived and unleashed hell: “doors open from both sides.” In college basketball, when one player walks out the door, it’s an opportunity for another player to walk in. Enter Utah State breakout point guard Steven Ashworth. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound sharpshooting playmaker signed with Creighton on April 17 — just over one week after Ryan Nembhard publicly announced that he was entering the transfer portal and moving on after two seasons as CU’s starting point guard. The initial reaction to Nembhard’s decision from both fans and media alike was equal parts confusion and dread. “The starting point guard for a 2024 Final Four contender just hit the portal! Creighton is in trouble!”
The thing about the primary ball handler in Greg McDermott’s offense at Creighton is that it’s sort of one size fits all. Austin Chatman was different than Antoine Young. Maurice Watson, Jr. was different than Chatman. Davion Mintz was different than Watson. Marcus Zegarowski was different than Mintz. Ryan Nembhard was different than Zegarowski. Yet all six were the starting point guard for a top 25 offense at some point during their time at Creighton. Steven Ashworth isn’t Ryan Nembhard, but he doesn’t need to be, because he has a skill set that has thrived in McDermott’s system. Let’s take a look at the traditional surface level numbers first before diving into the film breakdown. This past season was far and away the best of his college career. He shot 43.4% from 3-point range (6th in NCAA Division I), knocked down 111 total 3-pointers (9th in NCAA Division I) in 35 games. He averaged 3.17 makes per game from long range (15th in NCAA Division I) to go along with 4.5 assists (81st in NCAA Division I and 5th in the Mountain West Conference). He was also 20th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.68 and 29th in free throw percentage at 87.8%. He turned in one of the most potent offensive seasons by anyone in the sport in 2022-23, and he did it despite not becoming Utah State’s full-time starting point guard until January 10. Three-year starter Rylan Jones began the season as PG1 for the Aggies, but concussion issues forced him out of action midway through the year. Ashworth, a native of Alpine, Utah, stepped into the role and proceeded to lead the team in assists (4.5), steals (1.2), and scoring (16.2 points per game) while putting up 51-43-88 shooting splits. His performance helped Utah State finish tied for second in the MWC behind eventual Final Four participant San Diego State. The Aggies advanced to the conference tournament title game and earned at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
That’s the resume. Now let’s take a look at the tape (warning: some of the clips in these videos don’t have audio, so don’t adjust your volume).
Pick and Roll Playmaking
Whether he was hitting the roll man, a shooter on the wing, or a cutter in the lane, Utah State was highly efficient when Ashworth was involved in making a play for a teammate out of a ball screen. Of the 240 players with at least 150 pick and roll possessions that didn’t end with the ball handler taking the shot, Steven Ashworth was the 9th-most efficient facilitator at 1.055 points produced per possession. For context, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek — the Big East Player of the Year and Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player — was 4th at 1.072. Ashworth has a tight handle and he keeps the ball low as he navigates screens. While opposing teams try to bother him with size and speed, he counters with patience and precision. He keeps his dribble alive as long as necessary and doesn’t get sped up into making the play ahead of schedule. The precision part is evident with how often you see him hit a teammate in the shooting pocket on the wings, as well as when throws the lob at the rim when the screener dives to the rim, or when he probes the defense and hits a cutter for an easy finish at the basket. Ashworth has a PnR profile that compliments Creighton’s roster and style of play.
Pick and Roll Shotmaking
This is where Steven Ashworth really shines. Per Synergy, he ranked 2nd last season with 1.137 points per possession among the 419 Division I players who recorded at least 100 possessions as the ball handler in a pick and roll. A lot of that is built off of his proficiency to get buckets off the dribble. He averaged 1.333 points per possession off the dribble, according to Synergy, and finished with the highest effective field goal percentage at 66.7%. To understand how absurd that number is, remember that former Creighton point guard Marcus Zegarowski led the entire Big East Conference in 2019-20 … at 57.2%. Ashworth hit the same amount of shots last season as Zegarowski did the year the Bluejays won their first Big East regular season title — and he did so on 10 fewer attempts. Ashworth shot 50% inside 10 feet, 55% from 10-20 feet, and 43% from 3-point range. Despite being right hand dominant, he can hit shots off the bounce going to either his right or left. Regardless if defenses were switching, hard-hedging, going over or under, Ashworth found a way knock down shots at an elite level out of ball screens.
Hand-Off Shot Creation / Spot Up Shooting
These next two videos are where his movement and work rate without the ball in his hands come into play. These two areas blend his ability score off the bounce, change speeds on a dime, and manipulate his defender to create enough space to get his shot off. There were 802 players in Division 1 last season who had a minimum of 100 Spot Up possessions. Ashworth ranked third overall out of that group at 1.351 points per possession. No one in a Creighton uniform has been as efficient or more than that since Ethan Wragge (1.449 PPP) in 2013-14.
Shotmaking / Facilitating in Transition
At 6-foot-1, Ashworth really has two main options in transition: drop a dime or cash a jumper. He can put pressure on the rim to certain extent, but when he has the ball he’s primarily looking to create a scoring opportunity for a teammate. When he doesn’t have the ball, he’s sprinting to a spot and hunting a shot. He shot 17-31 from 3 (54.8%) in the open floor this season. That threat compliments his ability to throw guys open with one-handed bounce passes on the move, drop passes in the bread basket for guys who are leaking out, and stay patient enough to hit rim runners when a defender wall him to stop the break.
