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Craig Claxton
School: Hofstra Class: Senior
Height: 5'10" Weight: 180
Position: Point Guard
Stats (Provided by JazzyJ) 

                  G  MIN  FG  FGA  3P 3PA  FT FTA  REB  PF AST  TO BLK STL  PTS
96-97 Hofstra    27  916 134  310   6  38 132 187  123  85  91  77   4  50  406
97-98 Hofstra    31 1081 182  375   2  11 138 189  144  87 224 104   8  67  504
98-99 Hofstra    30  970 136  282   6  19 121 151  131  74 159  86  16  69  399
99-00 Hofstra    31 1089 253  538  51 134 149 195  168  71 186 101   5 102  706
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TOTALS          119 4056 705 1505  65 202 540 722  566 317 660 368  33 288 2015
 

                  MIN   FG%   3P%   FT%  RPG  APG  TPG  BPG  SPG   PPG
96-97 Hofstra    33.9  43.2  15.8  70.6  4.6  3.4  2.9  0.1  1.9  15.0
97-98 Hofstra    34.9  48.5  18.2  73.0  4.6  7.2  3.4  0.3  2.2  16.3
98-99 Hofstra    32.3  48.2  31.6  80.1  4.4  5.3  2.9  0.5  2.3  13.3
99-00 Hofstra    35.1  47.0  38.1  76.4  5.4  6.0  3.3  0.2  3.3  22.8
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TOTALS           34.1  46.8  32.2  74.8  4.8  5.5  3.1  0.3  2.4  16.9

Scouting Reports
Speedy Claxton- They dont call him that for nothing, lighting quick! 40+ vertical, quick hands and quick feet make him a great defender. Improved outside shot, impossible to keep out of the paint. At Chicago pre-draft camp, Speedy showed why he is a lock for the 1st round with his pur point guard skills. Also wowed scouts, and GM's with two thunderous dunks. The only thing in question is his strength and mid-major competition.

Scout: Jamie Sangouthai

Claxton is everybody's favorite sleeper in this year's draft, because he has played so well in pre-draft camps.  In recent months, we've all read about his 40 inch vertical, his nickname of "Speedy", and his... well...speed.

I ain't a bandwagoner... I've seen Speedy play for several years.  I used to think he was a Brevin Knight-type player with better leaping ability, and I think that's still fair.  He played HS ball at CTK in New York, handling the point position that Erick Barkley woulud later take over, and feeding the ball to 6-9 phenom Lamar Odom on the wing.  He was a big time player, and even though big name schools came calling late in the recruiting game, he honored the verbal commitment he had given to local Hofstra.

Speedy is like Brevin Knight in that they are fast players who understand how to change speeds.  It's easy to defend a guy, no matter how fast he is, if he stays at the same speed all the time.  But Speedy can come up in a trot, then blow by you with a sudden burst.  Once in the lane, like Knight, he gets good elevation on pull-up jumpers from 10 feet out, and has a nice touch on floater shots.  He can also find people for layups once he's at the rim.

Like Knight, Speedy can run an offense, and good decisions are made when the ball is in his hands.  He uses screens well, and has a decent jumper from long-range.  He racked up some turnovers, but that's only because the ball was in his control so much of the time.  More than three steals per game in his senior year, because he gets in the lanes well and has fast hands. In my opinion, he's the best point guard prospect in this year's draft because he can shoot well enough to keep defenses honest, he can push the ball in transition, he has a mindset that allows him to make plays for other people, and he defends.  No other point guard has all those abilities in a single package, and none of them (except maybe Jamal Crawford) is as good an athlete as Claxton.  The only drawbacks to Claxton as a prospect are his size (5-10) and the lack of big name college competition.  The second question has been somewhat answered by his handling of the big names in pre-draft camps. I believe Speedy will be the best pro out of this group of point guards.

Scout: Paor@aol.com