Best passer in OU history

[boksooner]

Blake Johnston was a heck of a passer bok.

It is a shame that he left the team. He was amazing.

 

[McG78]

It is a shame that he left the team. He was amazing.

He had a back injury and could no longer compete. So saying he left is a little misleading.

 

[CrimsonOberon]

Terrell Everett was a better passer than AJ ever thought about being.

Everett averaged 182 assists per year, while AJ only averaged 91 assists per year. Even when lobbing passes to Blake Griffin, he only put up 140 assists (the most in his career). Everett had 199 assists his senior year, and 166 assists his junior year.

Man, I would have loved to see Everett play with Willie and Blake Griffin. National title, anyone?

Everett is a top 3 passer in OU history... Nobody could keep him in front of them and at 6'4'' could make a lot of plays for himself and others going toward the rim. Great player.

Seconded.

Everett was an ace passer.

 

[SoonerSpock]

There is no clear cut statistical evaluation that will determine the best passer. Based on assist/game John Ontjes had the highest average of 6.6 a/g. Followed by Ricky Grace 6.5 a/g, Mookie Blaylock 6.3 per game, Terrell Everett 5.9 a/g and Brent Price 5.8 a/g.

Your top career assist leaders were all 4 year players with Terry Evans leading the way with 651 assist followed by Tim McCalister with 628. Mookie had 465 in two years, Ontjes 398 and Everett 365. Having had the good fortune to set in LNC and see all of them play I would say my opinion and the numbers confirm that Mookie was the most consistent and very prolific at distributing the ball. Also did not turn the ball over like Terrell Everett.

 

[kansasooner]

Terrell Everett was a better passer than AJ ever thought about being.

Everett averaged 182 assists per year, while AJ only averaged 91 assists per year. Even when lobbing passes to Blake Griffin, he only put up 140 assists (the most in his career). Everett had 199 assists his senior year, and 166 assists his junior year.

Man, I would have loved to see Everett play with Willie and Blake Griffin. National title, anyone?

Everett is a top 3 passer in OU history... Nobody could keep him in front of them and at 6'4'' could make a lot of plays for himself and others going toward the rim. Great player.

'greed.

 

[AdaSooner]

Terrell Everett was a better passer than AJ ever thought about being.

Everett averaged 182 assists per year, while AJ only averaged 91 assists per year. Even when lobbing passes to Blake Griffin, he only put up 140 assists (the most in his career). Everett had 199 assists his senior year, and 166 assists his junior year.

Man, I would have loved to see Everett play with Willie and Blake Griffin. National title, anyone?

Everett is a top 3 passer in OU history... Nobody could keep him in front of them and at 6'4'' could make a lot of plays for himself and others going toward the rim. Great player.

You can't call attention to Everett's 182 assist per year and ignore his 104 turnovers each season. His 6.9 assists average as a senior looks really good, until you realize he also averaged 4.0 turnovers that season. That spoils my opinion of Terrell as one of the OU's top passers.

I will amend my top picks and put Brent Price at #3. I forgot about him. But there is no way TO will get my vote. I would put Ontjes and Quannas White ahead of him.

 

[Sid]

This was not meant as a joke. BG could pass better than most of the guards that have come through OU.

Sad but true. I have to give AJ credit. He was great at breaking the press using the RAINBOW LOB pass. He reminded me of Ernie DiGregorio.

 

[coacht]

It is Terry Evans for me. I remember him being a solid passer and leader for 4 years.

I agree that Everett was a good passer, but you did get the bad with the good. The team really could have used his ability to get into the lane and distribute last year.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Blake Johnston was a heck of a passer bok.

First name I thought of when I saw this thread. Guy consistently made a great pass every time he hit the floor. I don't know if there is a clear cut "best" in this category, but Blake, Everett, and AJ would be on this list somewhere. WW is an underated passer as well. When OU decided to clear out for him, he made some nice passes. He does have a tendency to force a pass or two.

Ontjes and Gottlieb are what I would consider "system passers" much of the same way I would consider Texas Tech QBs system QBs.

 

[NickZepp]

Quannas White, not real flash but always got the right passes in the right spot. Rarely turned the ball over which is the most vital. Terrell Everett was a flashy passer but he was a turnover machine.

 

[SoonerSpock]

First name I thought of when I saw this thread. Guy consistently made a great pass every time he hit the floor. I don't know if there is a clear cut "best" in this category, but Blake, Everett, and AJ would be on this list somewhere. WW is an underated passer as well. When OU decided to clear out for him, he made some nice passes. He does have a tendency to force a pass or two.

Ontjes and Gottlieb are what I would consider "system passers" much of the same way I would consider Texas Tech QBs system QBs.

By "system passers" do you mean true point guards that effectively distribute the ball to make their teammates more effective offensively? That to me is what a point guard does and it is not necessary to be flashy in doing so, merely efficient.

 

[OUGenius]

Another vote for John Ontjes. He put the ball right there.

Honorable Mention: Ricky Grace, Mookie Blaylock, Terry Evans, Austin Johnson

 

[Seymore Cox]

By "system passers" do you mean true point guards that effectively distribute the ball to make their teammates more effective offensively? That to me is what a point guard does and it is not necessary to be flashy in doing so, merely efficient.

Guys who are one dimensional. Guys who can penitrate, create their own shots, and in Gottlieb's case, couldnt shoot, but can run an offense and get people into sets.

 

[AdaSooner]

Another vote for John Ontjes. He put the ball right there.

Honorable Mention: Ricky Grace, Mookie Blaylock, Terry Evans, Austin Johnson

Not a bad top five and a nice first post, OUGenius! :clap

I would add Brent Price to that list though. He was never a star in the NBA. But he made a nice living at the next level for several years, which says something about his point guard skills.

 

[NickZepp]

I really believe Quannas is always overlooked because he wasn't really that flashy.

 

[boksooner]

Q had a 4 to 1 assist to TO ratio. He hit big shots. He is one of my all time favorite players.

 

[DenverSooner]

Nobody picks Wllie Warren? He has made some really, really good passes and it was not his job to make passes. In fact, Willie has made more outstanding passes that were so good his teammates could not handle them than any player I recall at OU. I actually think Willie would be my pick since and including 1987/88.

Personally, I think it is very unfair to AJ to say he got to play with Blake and ignore the fact that T.E. had a very good front line as well. I really don't know who was the better passer between the two, but AJ tosses up an alley oop about as well as anyone I have ever seen at OU. Blake had something to do with it (because when AJ was off the mark he caught it and finished), but seriously, AJ was making many of those plays easy on Blake. Aj was a very underrated player at OU and has never been appreciated much by the fans. He had a nice career.

Terry Evans probably deserves some consideration. I am pretty sure he still has the assist record at OU and will probably keep that record for a long, long time (because I don't see two many 4 year starters on teams that score at that rate likely in the future).

Personally, I don't recall Mookie as being a great passer. I remember Mookie's strengths as being really quick to transition, incredible on defense and knocking down his shots both on the break and in a set offense. Mookie could certainly do other things but those are the things I recall that he truly excelled at.

Did Brent Price pass? I went to every game when he was at OU and I just don't remember him passing the ball much. I don't mean to say he was a terrible ball hog but my recollection of Brent Price is that he had great range and was not shy about shooting. He was not the black hole that William Davis was but I would not pick Brent Price as the best passer at OU.

One final thought, Shouldn't Blake Griffin get some consideration? He made some great passes in his two years at OU.

 

[tomkar98]

Nobody picks Wllie Warren? He has made some really, really good passes and it was not his job to make passes. In fact, Willie has made more outstanding passes that were so good his teammates could not handle them than any player I recall at OU. I actually think Willie would be my pick since and including 1987/88.

Personally, I think it is very unfair to AJ to say he got to play with Blake and ignore the fact that T.E. had a very good front line as well. I really don't know who was the better passer between the two, but AJ tosses up an alley oop about as well as anyone I have ever seen at OU. Blake had something to do with it (because when AJ was off the mark he caught it and finished), but seriously, AJ was making many of those plays easy on Blake. Aj was a very underrated player at OU and has never been appreciated much by the fans. He had a nice career.

Terry Evans probably deserves some consideration. I am pretty sure he still has the assist record at OU and will probably keep that record for a long, long time (because I don't see two many 4 year starters on teams that score at that rate likely in the future).

Personally, I don't recall Mookie as being a great passer. I remember Mookie's strengths as being really quick to transition, incredible on defense and knocking down his shots both on the break and in a set offense. Mookie could certainly do other things but those are the things I recall that he truly excelled at.

Did Brent Price pass? I went to every game when he was at OU and I just don't remember him passing the ball much. I don't mean to say he was a terrible ball hog but my recollection of Brent Price is that he had great range and was not shy about shooting. He was not the black hole that William Davis was but I would not pick Brent Price as the best passer at OU.

One final thought, Shouldn't Blake Griffin get some consideration? He made some great passes in his two years at OU.

For some reason, I thought I picked WW along with ABBJ, but apparently I did not. Though I meant to.

I agree that WW is a great passer. I remember that he tried to pull off some amazing passes early in the season, however, the guys he would pass to, were just not expecting that kind of pass, so it didn't play out like it was intended.

You do bring up a good point about Blake. I can't say much about it, other than he is in my book as the best passer (as a big).

 

[SoonerSpock]

Terry Evans probably deserves some consideration. I am pretty sure he still has the assist record at OU and will probably keep that record for a long, long time (because I don't see two many 4 year starters on teams that score at that rate likely in the future).

Personally, I don't recall Mookie as being a great passer. I remember Mookie's strengths as being really quick to transition, incredible on defense and knocking down his shots both on the break and in a set offense. Mookie could certainly do other things but those are the things I recall that he truly excelled at.

Did Brent Price pass? I went to every game when he was at OU and I just don't remember him passing the ball much. I don't mean to say he was a terrible ball hog but my recollection of Brent Price is that he had great range and was not shy about shooting. He was not the black hole that William Davis was but I would not pick Brent Price as the best passer at OU.

Mookie had 465 assists in two seasons and averaged 6.3 assist per game (third highest career average). Brent Price has the 5th highest career average assist record for his 2 years averaging 5.8 assist. In Brent's best season he had the eighth best single season assist record with 192.

I had the good fortune to most of the home games of the top assist leaders at OU. Including those with career, single season and per game average.

It is very doubtful that anyone will ever break Terry Evans total career assist record because of the necessity of starting for 4 seasons and playing in a very uptempo offense.

There is no question having an offense built around Brent shooting from the perimeter minimized his focusing on assist. Mookie is 3 assist short of having the highest two year average for assist behind Ricky Grace. Given his focus on scoring and defense I personally think he was the premiere assist man in the history of OU basketball.

 

[DenverSooner]

Mookie had 465 assists in two seasons and averaged 6.3 assist per game (third highest career average). Brent Price has the 5th highest career average assist record for his 2 years averaging 5.8 assist. In Brent's best season he had the eighth best single season assist record with 192.

I had the good fortune to most of the home games of the top assist leaders at OU. Including those with career, single season and per game average.

It is very doubtful that anyone will ever break Terry Evans total career assist record because of the necessity of starting for 4 seasons and playing in a very uptempo offense.

There is no question having an offense built around Brent shooting from the perimeter minimized his focusing on assist. Mookie is 3 assist short of having the highest two year average for assist behind Ricky Grace. Given his focus on scoring and defense I personally think he was the premiere assist man in the history of OU basketball.

I pretty much went to all of thos games back then. I am not trying to knock Brent Price, I just don't recall him as a great passer. The style of play was so different it is really hard to compare.