With an open spot in the starting lineup following the departure of Denzel Aberdeen and the NIL and pedigree to go after a big name the Florida Gators have honed in on one of the top players that remain in the transfer portal–USC’s Desmond Claude.
Claude stands at 6’6” and hails from New Haven, Connecticut. He started his career at Xavier for two seasons before transferring to USC where he spent last year, his junior season. While he wasn’t to enter the transfer portal at the start of its opening there were rumblings near the later stages of the process that he was going in, and on the last day he officially entered. With a lot of the top players already having chosen their new stops Claude becomes one of the best talents on the board.
A big reason why Claude is so sought after is the fact that he has had two seasons of really productive basketball at two separate high-major programs. As a sophomore at Xavier Claude averaged 16.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, and last year at USC as a junior he averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists–solidifying himself as a proven high-major contributor.
Now–let’s get into Claude’s unique game and what makes him such a special player.
Listed at 6’6” and 205 pounds, Claude has the size and length of a wing. However–last season he played all his minutes at the point guard position–making him one of the talented, lankiest ball handlers in the country.
And he did the job extremely well.
As you saw from the raw production he was able to put points on the board as well as create opportunities for his teammates, coming through with a 25.5% assist rate that was higher than anyone on the Gators had last season. At 6’6” Claude is able to keep his dribble far away from the poking hands of a smaller defender, and when he wants to make a pass he can create any angle required in order to find a teammate. He is somewhat prone to turning the ball over with 3.5 turnovers a game–but someone that is tasked with running as many pick and rolls and having the ball in his hands as much as Claude is going to see a high turnover number.
Just how many pick and rolls was it that Claude ran? According to Synergy Sports, he ran 432–making him one of the heaviest usage pick and roll guards in the country. He was also extremely successful in these settings, ranking in the 88th percentile nationally which is even more impressive considering the volume.
When not playing out of the pick and roll, Claude was also heavily involved as an isolation player and someone who would push the ball in transition–all plays that speak to ball handling and individual creation being his best skill.
Claude’s ability as a ball handler and pick and roll playmaker put him as one of the best offensive lead guards out there–but he also has some holes in his game. Particularly hindering him are his struggles to shoot. Claude is a career 27% three-point shooter who attempted just 75 threes last season–a remarkably low amount for someone as high-usage as him. As someone who had the ball in his hands most of the time for USC that didn’t hinder their offense a ton since he was usually the one finding open shooters and not the other way around, but it helps paint the picture of the hypothetical fit with Xaivian Lee not being a perfect one. Both of these are players who are isolation and pick and roll heavy ball handlers that aren’t great playing away from the ball, and if they shared a backcourt they wouldn’t be able to both have the rock at all times.
Claude is also a below-average defender, though a lot of this can be attributed to the fact that he was almost always guarding the opposing team’s point guard that was much smaller and quicker than him. On a roster where he could guard some bigger wings he’d fare better defensively, and that would be the case if he were to come to Florida.
Right now the Gators are considered heavily in the mix for Claude’s services, but it will be a competitive recruitment with him being one of the top players available.