A few days after Tony Bennett struck big with transfer guard Armaan Franklin from Indiana, lightning struck a second time with the commitment of ECU junior transfer PF Jayden Gardner. Just as Franklin solves big question marks for the Hoos in the back court, Gardner will be an instant impact contributor in the front court. With the graduations of Jay Huff and Sam Hauser along with the transfer of Justin McKoy, reinforcements were needed, and Virginia found a great one in Gardner who was a priority target for a number of high major programs.
The Recruitment
Gods Plan ? pic.twitter.com/nTm1P8JOjQ
— Jayden Gardner (@Jayy_Baller_1) March 29, 2021
Gardner hit the transfer portal on March 29th after three highly successful seasons in Greenville. He started as a very under the radar 3-star recruit in the 2018 class, ranked 387th by 247sports.com. But coming out of his third year, when he landed on the American Athletic Conference 1st-Team, he knew it was time to look for a bigger stage.
This wasn’t the result of a coaching change, like we saw at Indiana that landed us Franklin. Rather, Gardner likely got tired of finishing at the bottom of the AAC every year. The Pirates went 2-10 in the league this year, and went 5-13 and 3-15 in the two seasons prior. That was a lot for a competitive player who likely wants to see what winning looks like.
Gardner immediately drew interest from a long list of Power Five programs. Last Friday, he cut his list to NC State, LSU, Arkansas, Miami, and Virginia. He conducted multiple rounds of Zoom calls, with UVA reported both as the first program he got face time with and then, before shutting things down, Tony Bennett was also the last coach he talked to.
On Monday afternoon, things went Virginia’s way.
The Marathon Continues ?. Virginia what’s good!! ⚔️??⚔️ @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/1YD2oPPMY1
— Jayden Gardner (@Jayy_Baller_1) April 12, 2021
The Player
So what’s the deal with Gardner being such a sought after prospect?
He’s been one of the most consistent front court players since the day he stepped on campus. He’s averaged at least 16 points and 8 rebounds in each of his three seasons. Put short, he’s a dog on both the glass and attacking the rim.
Gardner is listed at 6’7″ and 235 lbs. He’s about as pure a throwback Power Forward as you’re going to find. For such a prolific scorer, he’s almost entirely a downhill threat. Of his 1022 career field goal attempts, only 36 have been from behind the 3-point line (he hit 9 of them, for only 25%).
None of ECU’s teams were particularly dangerous offenses, meaning Gardner, as an alpha scorer from Day 1, wasn’t getting a ton of help, drawing plenty of opponents’ attention. His usage rate (the percentage of his team’s possessions he finished) led the team all three years, among the highest in the conference every season. He’s a career 50.5% shooter on his 2’s, which is a solid rate. What pushes his effectiveness higher is his ability to draw fouls, ranking 7th, 11th, and 2nd in the AAC over his three seasons in Fouls Drawn per 40 minutes. He had a FT rate of 59% last year which is a rate unheard of for a UVA player. And once there, he shoots FTs at a healthy career 74% rate.
Gardner played over 36 mpg in league play last year, so he’s a marathon man; his conditioning is excellent. He’s been healthy throughout his career. He’s a dangerous rebounder on both ends of the floor, exceeding a DR% of 20% every season there, and posting AAC Top 12 OR%’s in both his first two years before slumping a little this year but still posting an OR% of 6.5% this year, which is solid.
Check out his highlights from his sophomore and freshman years, and understand this past season was just more of the same:
If you’re looking for a comp, Anthony Gill is the easy one. Very effective going to the rim both on the blocks and as a face-up attacker.
At 6’7″ he’s not going to be much of a 5-man except in very small lineups. Gardner isn’t much of a shot-blocker either, so anyone looking for a Wilkins-type help-side shot blocker may be disappointed.
But getting a power forward who can rebound and score at a high level, and has done so in a great conference (the AAC isn’t P5, but it’s tough, on par with the Big East and A-10 as the 6th or 7th toughest conference every year of Gardner’s tenure per KenPom).
Roster Impacts
Having played three seasons, Gardner will be a senior this upcoming season, though of course due to the COVID eligibility relief he could come back the following year as a so-called super senior. For now, we tag players per their normal class.
Slotting Gardner in as a PF gives us the following:
A lot hinges on Trey Murphy’s decision on potentially going pro this summer, which is still very 50/50, and may not be resolved until the summer. If Murphy leaves, UVA still only has 9 scholarship players, only 4 with significant starting experience. Even if Murphy returns, depth is still an issue, and we’re almost certainly leaning on youngsters off the bench one way or another.
But with that said, Tony Bennett isn’t done recruiting for next season’s roster. UVA’s been linked with a few names, but nothing yet hot and heavy, as other priority targets have committed elsewhere while we were getting Franklin and Gardner. Maybe new names surface later this month or next, or maybe it doesn’t happen until the summer when we see an international recruit emerge or a high schooler reclassify from the 2022 class.
Summary
The bottom line is that this solves a huge question of who plays the 4 for us next year. Gardner, who will likely be paired with one of Kadin Shedrick or Francisco Caffaro in the starting lineup, creates a paint-dominant front line that will no doubt need to be surrounded with shooters, so it creates some issues from a floor spacing perspective.
But he’s got a nose for the basket, can rebound on both ends, will be a willing defender, and has a ton of experience playing high level ball. Today is time to celebrate.
And for one last moment of highlights, let’s take a look at his 21-point, 15-rebound, 4-assist explosion against Top 10 / Final Four team Houston earlier this season: