I made the trip to the Minneapolis last weekend to get a detailed look at 2021 commit Will Tschetter at the D1 Summer Classic. Suiting up for the Minnesota Heat, Will generally plays lower level competition in both high school and AAU, so this was the rare opportunity to evaluate him against legit competition in the championship game against D1 Minnesota (Adidas sponsored with multiple Division 1 prospects).  

My general approach is to refrain from making evaluations based on a single performance. Three games is adequate to get a good feel in my opinion, as there are enough highs and lows to properly assess strengths and weaknesses. In line with that philosophy, I took in three live games of Will on Sunday. The first two games in bracket play came against D1 Minnesota’s 17u B team (essentially 1 low-major D1 prospect and a roster full of NAIA/D2 prospects) and the Minnesota Fury (all NAIA/D2 prospects).

The championship game is the matchup I was hoping for, as Tschetter squared off against D1 Minnesota’s Adidas team featuring high-major prospects in 2021 EM 4* forward David Joplin, 2021 big/Minnesota commit Treyton Thompson, 2022 EM 3* guard Tamin Lipsey and 2022 EM 3* guard Eli King among others. 

In a two-part analysis, today’s piece will focus on the offensive side of the ball exclusively. I have inserted scouting notes within the clips below to assist you in walking through the film from a scouting/evaluation point of view. 

To aid in identifying Tschetter and distinguish between teams in the clips below:

Will Tschetter – wears #42 and is wearing purple in all clips

D1 Minnesota B team (gray jerseys/Game 1)

Minnesota Fury (black jerseys/Game 2)

D1 Minnesota Adidas (white jerseys/Game 3)

Pick and Pop Action

Let’s start off with the strongest facet of Tschetter’s game, his ability to knock down triples in pick and pop action. 

As a shooter, Will is extremely comfortable taking 3s as a popper. He’s generally going to get off a quality shot even if it doesn’t go in. Tschetter knocked down 40% of his PnP attempts on Sunday and could’ve easily made all 5 of shots. 

In terms of shot mechanics, the shot origin is lower than I’d like to see, the elbow is cocked out a bit and it’s more of a set shot than a true jumper. That said, Will’s shots are almost universally on-line. Just a matter of whether he gets enough arch. 

Tschetter is a smart player that utilizes the threat of his jumper to attack closeouts from bigs. Once a big is in full recovery mode, he attacks the rim off the bounce and puts the defender in a position where he has to concede a layup or foul. 

As a passer, Will is generally a very good high-low facilitator out of pick and pop as well. It allows him to play more of a finesse/perimeter role and allows for 2 big lineups provided he can keep up defensively. 

The problems manifest when the defender closing out is more agile, which is going to be a theme moving forward. Tschetter simply lacks the requisite acceleration to beat recovering defenders and help defense even when it appears he has the angle to do so. 

Overall, Will is a great fit for pick and pop sets where he will really thrive against defenses that use drop coverage. If the opposing big drops (likely a slower/traditional big in the mold of Garza/Kofi, etc.), Tschetter is going to hit 3s at a high clip or attack closeouts with straight line drives. When the opposing big is more agile (think Xavier Tillman) and hedge + recover is the defensive approach, he may run into some issues. 

[Hit THE JUMP for the full breakdown.]

Post Offense

Will’s go-to move on the block is to back his defender down, use a subtle head fake middle before drop-stepping baseline for the finish. His goal is to bait the defender middle to create the angle for an easy finish off the backboard. He’s relying on his ability to outthink his defender as opposed to being a superior athlete. 

Tschetter looked very good utilizing this tactic on his first post possession against EM 4* David Joplin (#4 in white). The drop-step was quick, compact and effective.

Once the scouting report on the drop-step was out of the bag though, Joplin and the D1 Minnesota bigs essentially shut Will down as a back to the basket scorer. He did flash the ability to use a second pivot on one possession to draw a foul, but he was largely relegated to risky passes when using the drop-step after that initial post possession.

I was very impressed with Tschetter’s ability to create angles for over-the-top entry passes and his spatial awareness in those situations. He sealed at a ¾ angle to get the defender on his side, creating an easy entry passing lane. Once he turned to drop-step, Will gave a shot fake, got defenders off their feet and proceeded to finish. Just very good sealing technique and spatial awareness in tight spaces. 

Tschetter’s biggest problem with his back-to-the-basket is a lack of lift. He had some ugly misses that should be nearly automatic against smaller defenders/lower level competition. Once David Joplin (similar size) walled up against Will at the 1:38 mark of the clip above, his lack of verticality precluded him from getting a solid look and barely drew front rim. The 1:53 mark was the most problematic from an evaluation standpoint. Will sealed a lower level defender in the restricted area that is probably 2 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter and was unable to get enough lift to finish what should’ve been an automatic layup or dunk. 

Tschetter projects to be a solid post offense option at the next level, but not with high volume, particularly as a scorer. He’s a below the rim finisher that is undersized (more on that in Part II) and will be working with an athletic/physical deficit on most nights in the B10. As a transition to the next section, he projects better as passer from the post. 

Passing/Facilitation

Will is very good passer from the top of the key where he can survey the defense and make decisions. Whether it was post-entry passes or kickouts to shooters, he threw precision passes with zip on most occasions. The only small issue I noticed is that he tended to struggle when the pass required touch/more air, but I don’t necessarily think that will be problematic at the next level. 

He had some impressive moments passing out of the post as well. Tschetter instantly kicks out when he feels a secondary defender dig/double, which puts the defense in scramble mode. He also has good enough feel to dish out dumpoffs when the help defender leaves his feet to block a shot. 

What I didn’t like is the long passes he made when his drop-step didn’t work. Because the baseline drop-step is Will’s go-to move, he’s often left with no real estate once the defense has adjusted to that move. At that point he’s left with 2 options, neither of which are good. Either step out of bounds or make a lengthy pass that has a high likelihood of being intercepted. This occurred multiple times, particularly against legit competition in D1 Minnesota. Tschetter leaves his feet to pass at times, which is a huge no-no at any level of basketball. 

I’m not going to dedicate much time to Will’s ability to playmake for others off the bounce, as it is very unlikely he is used in that role for the Wolverines. In short, Tschetter flashes some vision off the bounce in the open-court and against slower bigs, but struggles in that regard against more agile defenders.  

Face-Up Game

Will has the ability to attack off the bounce with 1-2 dribbles when a slower big is defending him on the perimeter. He uses head fakes and the threat of his jumper to create space and get to the rim + finish in a straight line.

As I mentioned before, the lack of agility is going to be a theme. Will struggled when matched up with more agile defenders. He was consistently beat to the spot by non-traditional bigs, even when it appeared he had a good angle to beat his defender. 

His lack of acceleration limits his ability to take more than 1-2 dribbles. Tschetter isn’t going to change direction with a live dribble much, but when he does choose to do so, its typically going to be a spin move. Even when he utilized this move, he was easily beat to the spot and it resulted in turnovers.  

Will projects to be a matchup dependent face-up big in college. He will be able to do some things off the bounce against slower/traditional bigs, but there’s simply no way you allow him to dribble versus any defender with adequate agility. 

Catch and Shoot Jumpers

This is the portion of the evaluation I really struggled to grasp. Generally, a catch and shoot 3 is going to be a better shot attempt in relation to pick and pop because it involves less body movement. Tschetter looks great as a pick and pop shooter, but no so much in catch and shoot attempts.

The lack of arch really manifested on the catch and shoot attempts above. Some of these shots were barely drawing front rim. He’s capable of making these looks (knocked down 1), but its bizzare to see such a deviation from his pick and pop attempts.

I wish I could tell you there’s some explanation in terms of shot mechanics/balance, but there isn’t. Will’s shot mechanics are basically identical for both shot types. 

Running The Floor

Tschetter is great at transitioning from defense to offense. He absolutely hauls ass down the court to create an advantage. The first three steps are typically most important in gaining separation and man does he grasp that concept well.

He does prefer to run the wing as opposed to rim-running though, which isn’t ideal. If he rim runs, that likely sucks the defense into the paint, allowing for transition 3 attempts, which are typically good shots. 

Overall though, I love this part of his game. Not much analysis to provide here, he hustles down the court and it’s going to create an easy bucket 1-2 times per game. 

Pull-Up Jumper

It’s the dream of every big to take step-back jumpers in contemporary times. It is also the nightmare of every coach on earth unless your big is Anthony Davis. 

I admire Will’s courage to take these shots and got a good chuckle out of it. But yeah, it is not a good shot attempt for him whatsoever. Tschetter simply lacks the lift, body control or shot mechanics to take these type of shot attempts. 

I highly doubt he will take more than a handful of pull-up jumpers at Michigan. I assume those shot attempts will be followed by a swift benching in the absence of garbage time in lopsided affairs.  

Free Throws

Will has consistent shot mechanics at the charity stripe and knocked those down at an extremely high clip. 

I’m not a subscriber to the good FT shooter = good 3pt shooter theory, in large part because free throws don’t involve movement/defenders, whereas 3pt attempts typically do. That said, there is evidence to suggest a correlation between the two. And if that’s the case, his FT shooting bodes very well for his projected 3%.

Above and beyond that, I think Tschetter will draw fouls at a reasonable rate based on his affinity for shot fakes that will get opposing bigs off their feet during his first stint of a given game. 

Sign me up for free points at the line, particularly considering that we’ve had our struggles in recent years at the free throw line. 

Summary and Projection

Will Tschetter is a player that compels matchup issues against slower bigs. His perimeter shotmaking and ability to attack traditional centers off the bounce forces the opposition to either adjust their ballscreen defense if using drop coverage or go small. 

He’s crafty on the block in terms of using drop-steps and head/shot fakes to get defenders off their feet in order to get clean looks or draw fouls. Will is a below average athlete and compenstates by outthinking the opposition to get necessary space.

At the college level his optimal role comes in pick and pop action. While I believe the reported 45% from distance in HS is probably fudged a bit (shot is too flat), I do expect Tschetter to connect at a 35 – 38% clip from distance at Michigan, especially if the majority of his 3pt attempts come as a popper. 

As a face-up option, his utilization is dictated by the opposing big. Will is too limited athletically to attack the Xavier Tillmans of the B10, but should find success attacking closeouts from Garza/Williams/Cockburn types. 

I do like Tschetter as a facilitating post-up option that can find cutters when he faces a double, but I don’t necessarily think he’s a back-to-the-basket scorer on decent volume. He’s just too challenged vertically, and that is exacerbated by the lack of adequate size/length. 

He absolutely projects to be a facilitating big from the top of the key in high-low action or Horns in two-big lineups, provided he can stay on the floor defensively. More on that in Part II………….