Transfer Player Spotlight: Dante Maddox Jr. (Xavier)

Sean Miller and his staff are having one of the best off seasons in the nation. Today they added Toledo transfer Dante Maddox Jr. to the fold to go along with their other two transfer additions in John Hugley and Marcus Foster. In each of the last two seasons Xavier has brought in a transfer guard and helped them have a career year in Sean Miller’s system. This year Maddox is going to take the same type of leap that Quincy Olivari and Souley Boum did in the years previous. Things are still up in the air with Desmond Claude but if he returns a starting back court of Mcknight, Claude and Maddox might be the best in the Big East. Last season in the MAC Maddox averaged 15.6 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 2.8 assists per game. Maddox averaged 5.6 three-point shot attempts a game and he made over 40% of them which accounted for over 50% of his total points. Maddox most naturally fits into the starting shooting guard spot with Desmond Claude moving to the three. He will also most likely be asked to handle some point guard duties when Mcknight is off the court.   

The best and simplest way to describe Dante Maddox Jr. is an explosive guard that is a deadly shooter. The shooting is what jumps off the stat sheets, but his explosiveness is what truly makes Maddox a weapon on the offensive end. He has one of the quicker first steps in college basketball which allows him to get to the rim or create three-point shots at will. Maddox loves to use his first step to create space but then counter that with a move like a snatch back to create those three-point looks.  Defenders have to respect his ability to get to the cup which gives him an open three on plays like that whenever he wants too. The other situation he really looks for three-point shots is in the pick and roll. Maddox is very capable of making the pass to the roll man or driving to the lane but when he comes off the screen, he is trying to get to his pull up three point shot. However, when Maddox does get into the lane, he is a very crafty and good finisher. The best part about his game though is how in control he is at all times. The lane is probably the best example of this Maddox seems to never be off balance or in a bad position where he cannot make a play. This allows him to not only be a great finisher but also an excellent passer. He is great at finding cutters or dumping the ball off to big men when he attracts attention in the paint. Maddox is an excellent on the ball creator, but he also excels off the ball. He moves in such a way that he is always in a position to bail out a teammate if they are in trouble or he can be used in a set very effectively as well. His off-ball presence could be similar to Quincy Olivari’s for Xavier last season. The offense will not be as focused on Maddox as it was on Quincy, but Sean Miller is going to use some of the same type of sets he used for Quincy on Maddox, and it is going to work very well. The other area where Quincy thrived in Xavier’s offense was transition and just like Quincy Maddox can excel there. Maddox is going to fit perfectly into that second point guard role that is utilized in Xavier’s transition offense. Toledo played at a decently fast tempo not quite as fast as Xavier but still well above average, so this will not be too much of a shock for Maddox to play in an up-tempo offense. His ability to remain in control at all times is going to make this Xavier transition offense even more dangerous. The downside to playing at a fast tempo is often that you leave yourself vulnerable to sloppy mistakes but that is not a part of Maddox or Dayvion Mcknight’s game. There is a real possibility that both of them finish at the top of the assist to turnover ratio leaderboards nationwide. Once in the half court Maddox is also a great fit for this offense. The flow offense that Xavier runs is most effective when all of the perimeter players are able to put the ball on the floor and create for themselves with an inside scoring presence. Maddox is just going to provide Xavier with another player who can do just that. To go along with his on-ball creation his gravity is also going to help out the rest of the players on the floor. Assuming Desmond Claude stays he is going to be the star of this team and his play style is using his physicality to get to the rim or post ups. Any slasher like that needs lanes where they can have a clear path to the basket. Xavier was clearly lacking consistent the outside shooting that is needed to create those lanes but this season with Maddox and Powell their shooting prowess is going to create a much more efficient Desmond Claude.  

While Maddox’s offense is amazing, he has some defensive limitations. The first issue is he struggles to stay in front of people. He allows far too many blow bys and without a real shot blocking threat on Xavier’s roster that is a recipe for disaster. The other main problem is that Maddox can get bullied in the lane. He is only 195 pounds, which really shows in the lane or when he is guarding players bigger than him. The brightside is Desmond Claude, Davion Mcknight, and Marcus Foster are all plus perimeter defenders so Maddox can take the lesser assignments and survive. The issue with that plan is a lot of the time in the Big East those lesser assignments are going to be shooters who run a lot of off-ball sets. Maddox in off ball scenarios is very aggressive and susceptible to getting burnt and leaving open shots. For the most part Maddox has good intuition on defense which does result in a decent number of steals but by nature he is aggressive which causes him to leave players open occasionally. Overall Maddox is not a good defender, but he also is not a gaping hole that is going to severely limit the potential of this team. As a team Xavier does have some defensive concerns right now and Maddox is not helping that but until Xavier gets another transfer that is more of a front court issue. Plus, even though his defense is not great Maddox’s offensive impact is going to be so great that Xavier fans are not going to mind the occasional blow by. Sean Miller has another OKG with Dante Maddox. He is going to have a terrific season.