Jeffries and Scott making big impact for Tulsa Basketball
When looking for a new college home, DaQuan Jeffries didn’t have trouble finding some advice. He just had to talk to an old friend and former teammate.
“I asked Curran about the program and how he likes it,” Jeffries said of Tulsa guard Curran Scott, his teammate for three years at Edmond Santa Fe High School. “He was telling me things about the program, and how the coaches and players were.
“He sold me on it right away.”
Meanwhile, Scott was talking up Jeffries to TU coach Frank Haith and his assistant coaches.
“When (Jeffries) decided to leave Oral Roberts and went to juco, he told me he still wanted to stay close, so I told Coach Haith and the staff that here’s a kid, he’s from Oklahoma, he wants to play close to home and he was playing juco in Texas, so they could get down to see him anytime,” Scott explained. “So they went down to see him and they liked him a lot. That’s when he came on his visit and decided to come here.”
Jeffries and Scott are both being counted on heavily this year to help the Golden Hurricane rebound from a 15-17 season where they had 10 new players.
Tulsa fans got a glimpse of what they could do in the exhibition opener, a 96-65 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State. With both Jeffries and Scott in the starting lineup, Jeffries had team highs of 15 points and 28 minutes played, while Scott had nine points.
In the second exhibition game, a 113-56 win over Missouri S&T, Scott scored 16 points and Jeffries added 10.
It is a unique situation where both players transferred away from major college programs after being starters as true freshmen. The 6-foot-4 Scott averaged 10.5 points per game for Charlotte before transferring to Tulsa last year, while the 6-5 Jeffries averaged 6.7 points for ORU before transferring to Western Texas to play junior college ball last season.
Scott had been a target of TU coach Frank Haith and his staff while he was in high school. Tulsa offered him a scholarship on April 20, 2015, but Scott, who had seemed to be leaning towards the Golden Hurricane, instead chose to play for Mark Price in Charlotte.
Benefitting from a lot of playing time that would have been hard to get on a senior laden TU team that went the NCAA tournament in 2016, Scott brings back some skills that he didn’t have in high school.
Known more for driving to the bucket and shooting mid-range pull-up jumpers, Scott became an outstanding three-point shooter at Charlotte, making 43.9 percent.
“In high school, that’s pretty much all I did. I didn’t shoot as many threes in high school. It was pretty much all like mid-range and pull-ups, and getting to the hole and getting fouled,” Scott said. “But then when I got to college, obviously, you have to be able to shoot from the outside, so that’s something that I really worked on and worked on and was able to improve my shot. So I feel like I have a solid overall offensive game.”
Scott and Jeffries played their first three years in high school at Edmond Santa Fe, finishing second in the Class 6A state tournament in 2014, but Scott transferred to Edmond Memorial for his senior year when his family moved. Jeffries almost followed.
“DaQuan was thinking about moving as well, but he ended up staying at Santa Fe,” Scott said.
As for his reason for transferring to TU, Scott had nothing bad to say about Charlotte. It was more about being in a better situation, especially for his family.
“I think it was probably just to get closer to home,” Scott said. “I played a lot as a freshman and started a lot of games. That was the main thing, just being close to home and being able to have my family at pretty much every game.
“What ultimately brought me to Tulsa besides location was the coaching staff, since I had a relationship with them since high school.”
Jeffries brings to TU an expanded game from his ORU days after always being known for playing tough defense and shooting a high percentage (57 percent) from the field.
“I think offensively and defensively, my game has improved a lot,” Jeffries said. “My ball handling skills, coming off of ball screens, and my shot has improved. It is just getting to the gym, spending extra time with the coaches, and improving my form.”
Jeffries will likely play mostly on the wing and in the frontcourt this season on Tulsa’s undersized team. He started at the four spot in the exhibition opener.
“DaQuan reminds me of a guy we had, P.J. Tucker, who plays in the NBA, that we had at Texas. He could play anywhere,” Haith said. “I like to think we play four guards and a post player.
“Quan is going to play mostly the perimeter. He’s been a guy who has been a low post guy most of his career. Now he can shoot the ball, he can handle the ball. He’s a guard.”
A player with the skills of a guard that can also play in the post is a tough matchup for opposing defenses.
“Will he be out there with three little guys and be the four, or will he be out there with two little guys and be the three - it doesn’t matter, it will be the same position,” Haith said. “So they do the same thing. He will be out there playing a perimeter position, but could he be out there being guarded by the other team’s four or three man - that will be predicated on who we have out there with him.”
Jeffries’ high field goal percentage for most of his career has been due in part to him shooting so many shots close to the rim, and his being very selective and unselfish in his shot selection.
“He didn’t take many shots. That’s what we’ve got to get him to do, is be assertive,” Haith said of Jeffries. “He’s still got that in him a little bit. It’s amazing, the two guys I want to shoot more, Junior Etou and DaQuan, they don’t have that killer, go get em a bucket, and we’ve got to instill that in them. It’s like 'DaQuan, I want you to shoot the ball'.”
The experience of playing juco ball was something Jeffries believes helped his game. He averaged 15.5 points while shooting 66 percent from the field.
“Juco was absolutely fun,” Jeffries said. “You got to see a lot of guys all across the country. It was pretty great.”
For Jeffries and Scott, the step up in competition to the AAC from their previous conferences is a welcome change.
“I felt like this conference had a lot of competition, and it was an opportunity to play against a lot of good guys in the conference,” Jeffries said. “And it is close to home.”
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Scott said. “At the beginning of my freshmen year, we played against Washington, Syracuse, Michigan and Miami, so I’ve seen a lot of good teams. I don’t think it will be too much of an adjustment. I just think I just have to come out and play hard and hopefully come out with a win.”
Haith is very high on Scott as well, believing he will help elevate the Golden Hurricane this year.
“Curran is kind of an old school, throwback player,” Haith said. “He’s not just a three-point shooter. I think when people play him, I don’t want to say they will disrespect him, but he will surprise them with his burst, his strength, his savvy. He knows how to keep people off-balance. He’s got a mid-range game, and he also can get to the rim and make you foul him.
“The part of the game he’s really worked on is three-point shooting. He naturally wasn’t a great three-point shooter. But he’s added that to his game. He’s always had that other part of his game.”
For Scott and Jeffries, being teammates again feels like being back home. In addition to their high school days, they were AAU teammates for three years.
“It’s like seeing one of your buddies in class,” Jeffries said. “It feels pretty good. He’s a good guy.”
Jeffries is surprised at how close he already feels to his new teammates.
“I feel like I’ve known these guys for two years now,” Jeffries said. “That’s how close we are.”
As for playing his former school, ORU, this year, Jeffries isn’t real emotional about it.
“I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m sure it will be a fun game,” Jeffries said of playing the Golden Eagles. “I have respect for everyone at that program. It’s just a better opportunity for me here.”
The excitement for the season is high for both Scott and Jeffries.
“My expectations are very high. Obviously, we want to win the conference tournament and win most of our games and get to the NCAA Tournament,” Jeffries said.
“I think the sky’s the limit, honestly,” Scott added. “We’ve worked really hard this off season, there’s a lot different feel in practice from an experience standpoint. I’m confident in every single game that we can come out and win every single game and ultimately work towards going to the NCAA tournament in March.”
