Versatile Marcus Garrett willing to play any position for Kansas Jayhawks at Texas
Kansas junior Marcus Garrett says he’s fully prepared to start at point guard a second straight game if Devon Dotson isn’t able to play in Saturday’s Kansas-Texas contest, set for a 1 p.m. tipoff at Erwin Center.
“Something I did my whole life is play point guard. It’s something I feel I can do,” said Garrett, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound former Dallas Skyline High School lead guard, who has played mostly the 2-spot during his three seasons at KU.
“Whatever Coach needs from me,” he added matter-of-factly.
Garrett, who according to coach Bill Self “ran the show beautifully,” scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished five assists against one turnover in Tuesday’s 66-52 victory at Oklahoma. He was cheered from the bench by Dotson, KU’s leading scorer who was unable to play after sustaining a hip pointer in last Saturday’s home win over Baylor.
“I definitely had fun playing point guard,” Garrett said. “I can do what he does when he’s not in the game. (But) I hated having Devon out. Devon is our point guard. Whenever he gets back, he’ll take that role.”
Garrett said, “I do,” on Thursday when asked if he thought Dotson would be able to play in the Big 12 road battle between No. 6 KU (13-3, 3-1) and unranked UT (12-4, 2-2).
At noon Friday, Self said there was at that time no change in Dotson’s day-to-day status.
“He went a little bit yesterday,” Self said of Dotson practicing Thursday before the Jayhawks headed to Texas via charter flight on Thursday night to beat wintry weather conditions out of Lawrence.
Self, who has said it’s up to Dotson as to when he’ll return, does not have to give Garrett much notice as to what position he’ll be playing.
“I know every position for sure,” said Garrett, who even played some pivot in high school.
He was asked Thursday if he could play the 5 spot for Udoka Azubuike in a pinch.
“I definitely could play post,” Garrett said, smiling.
Garrett — he averages 9.4 points a game on 46.6% shooting (he’s 10 of 28 from three for 35.7%) actually has more assists and fewer turnovers than Dotson this season. Garrett has 68 assists against 26 turnovers while playing 29.2 minutes per contest.
Dotson averages 18.0 points a game with 66 assists to 38 turnovers in 34.5 minutes per outing.
“Over the summer, a lot of people think I worked on my shot. It was mostly my ballhandling,” Garrett said. “I worked on ballhandling and being able to have different moves and distribute with the moves I have.”
He said he’ll be motivated Saturday playing before several family members and friends.
“The Texas game might be the most ticket requests I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Garrett said, noting he grew up a fan of the Longhorns, but was only recruited by them, “a little bit.”
“I felt more at home here,” Garrett said giving the reason he chose KU over Texas, Baylor and others.
He noted that he’s familiar with several Longhorn players including Matt Coleman, a 6-2 junior from Norfolk, Virginia, who averages a team-leading 12.1 points a game on 43.4% shooting (26 of 58 threes for 44.8%). Coleman and KU forward David McCormack were teammates at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
“He’s very athletic. He’s very crafty with the ball,” Garrett said of Coleman. “He’s a speedy guy who can get to the rim.”
The key to guarding him will be: “Keeping him in front of me,” Garrett said, “not let him get to the goal easy. The best thing he does is pass the ball. We have to try to take away passing. Matt keeps that team rolling. He can drive, find others,” Garrett continued.
“When Jase (Febres) is knocking down shots, it makes him (Coleman) hard to guard.”
Febres, a 6-5 junior from Houston, averages 10.4 points per game on 38.4% shooting. He’s made 42 of 115 threes for 36.5%. He hit 3 of 6 threes for the Longhorns, who knocked down 15 of 32 shots beyond the arc in Wednesday’s 76-64 win at Oklahoma State.
Texas beat Kansas State 64-50 last Saturday in Austin after opening league play with a loss at Baylor (55-49) and a loss at home to Oklahoma (72-62).
“They are like OU. They are an NCAA Tournament team if things fall right,” Self said. “They also are a team that probably needs to have some good things happen (to make tourney).
“We need good things to happen, too, just like everybody. Baylor (14-1, 4-0) is the only one right now who can really afford to take an unexpected hit (loss). We know Texas will come to play. They are more than capable and the last time we went down there, Shaka (Smart, fifth-year coach) and their guys got us pretty good (73-63 KU loss on Jan. 29). Hopefully we’ll be prepared.”
Self is looking for a big game out of sophomore wing Ochai Agbaji, who had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting Tuesday at OU. Agbaji played 38 minutes despite being slowed by a sprained back.
“He got nicked up and didn’t flinch,” Self said. “Him being out there gave us a chance to win the game. I just think he needs to continually be aggressive and shoot the ball. He’s been good defensively. If he doesn’t score (10.9 scoring average on season and 9.0 in Big 12) and he can make sure his man doesn’t score, that isn’t the worst thing in the world. But continue that approach and steal us some extra possessions I think would be very important for him moving forward. For us to be a great team,” Self added, “let’s be real. He needs to be a 12 to 15-point a game scorer for us.”
Following this game, the Jayhawks will return home to meet Kansas State in a 6 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday. Then the Jayhawks play host to Tennessee on Jan. 25 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
