Age

19.3

Height

6'7"

Weight

205

Workload

MIN%

60.2

USG%

15.8

TS%

52.5

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

11.9

REB

6.7

AST

1.6

STL

1.7

BLK

0.8

TOV

1.7

Efficiency

RIM FG%

64.2

MID FG%

34.7

3PT FG%

27.9

FT%

72.4

Jump to full report

Report by: Oscar

Jordan Walsh

Forward Arkansas

Shutdown wing defender with sparks of offensive promise

Age

19.3

Height

6'7"

Weight

205

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

11.9

REB

6.7

AST

1.6

STL

1.7

BLK

0.8

Positions Defended

Offensive Role

 

Defensive Role

   

Jordan Walsh’s combination of overwhelming length and rare flexibility for size grant him unique functionality on both sides of the court. 

Defense 

 At 6’7” with a 7’3” wingspan and nimble feet, Walsh is an elite mirrorer at the point of attack. He can slide with quicker wings and swallow them up with his length, and has great recovery speed when he does get beat.

Walsh also has a strong upper body, and is able to leverage this strength to bump ballhandlers off their rhythm when they seem to get a step on him.

Off the ball, Walsh is a mixed bag; he’s a high motor and timely rotator with active hands and length to disrupt would-be scorers. However, he seldom uses his 41” max vertical leap to contest shots above the rim (only 16 blocks in 1,205 pre-college minutes, per Cerebro database). He often swipes at the ball or attempts to take a charge even when he’s in position to challenge a finisher going up. Although he’s not quite as good of a vertical athlete in traffic as his measurables would suggest, Walsh should look to become more assertive as a secondary rim protector.

Driving

Walsh is able to make up for his pedestrian first step off the dribble with his incredibly flexible lower body. While his handle is somewhat basic at the moment, he uses wide crosses and sharp changes of direction to get by his defenders. His flexibility allows him to conceal the final destination of his dribble move until the last moment, unlike stiffer players. He accesses shin angles that are preposterous for a player as tall and long as Walsh. Once he’s able to create a lane for himself, Walsh’s elite stride length is hard to stop:

You’ll notice that most of these positive clips feature Walsh operating with plenty of space. When he’s tasked with creating with multiple defenders in the vicinity, Walsh’s flaws become more evident. His handle is too loose to navigate consistently in close quarters, often losing the ball when faced with defensive pressure. His coordination is an improvement area, as he’s often out of control when dribbling in tight spaces. He’ll need to tighten his handle to reach any sort of creation upside.

Though he’s not the flashiest passer, Walsh is very effective passing off of his own gravity. He has good feel for when he’s successfully drawn two defenders to the ball, and how he can manipulate their positioning to open up a scoring opportunity for a teammate. 

Jordan is at his best attacking in transition, where his long stride length and runway vertical leap are able to shine. He should be a lethal grab-and-go threat for Arkansas this year.

Shooting 

Walsh hasn’t been especially accurate from 3 to date (26.5% in his high school career per Cerebro). His energy transfer is fairly smooth, but when under duress, his lower body mechanics are often compromised. He’ll undoubtedly need to improve his accuracy as a shooter, but he isn’t shy pulling up from deep, even off the dribble. Walsh’s ambition from behind the arc is a good sign for his shooting projection:

Conclusion

Jordan Walsh has several enticing traits that suggest an NBA wing is in here somewhere, but it’s not as clear what that player will look like. Does his handle improve enough to be anything more than a closeout attacker on offense? If not, will his shot be good enough to make him a tenable off-ball player and stay on the court for his defensive impact? No matter how you slice it, Walsh’s pitch relies on significant in one area or another; still, he offers intriguing potential as a wing stopper with various offensive development pathways.

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