The Scout: UNC Asheville - Tylon Chatman
Breaking down the game of UNC Asheville PG Tylon Chatman
The seventh installment of The Scout is here, this time breaking down UNC Asheville’s new, Lee University transfer guard, Tylon Chatman.
Without further ado, let’s get right into the breakdown.
Player Bio:
Before transferring to UNC Asheville, Tylon Chatman spent his first 3 seasons at Lee University at the D2 level.
2023-24 (Freshman Season):
Chatman appeared in 8 games, averaging 1.6 PPG, 0.1 RPG, and 0.1 APG.
2024-25 (Sophomore Season):
Chatman had a breakout, appearing in 27 games, 18 being starts, averaging 10.4 PPG, 2.4 APG, and 2.1 RPG.
Chatman began and ended the season hot with 3 double-digit games to begin the season, then 3 20+ Point performances in his last 6 games of the season.
2025-26 (Junior Season):
Appeared in 28 games, starting 27, averaging 14.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 3.7 APG while shooting 37% from 3.
Chatman led the Flames in scoring and was 2nd in Assists on the team.
Film Review:
Scoring Skill:
The first thing that becomes clear on Tylon Chatman’s film is his ability to create space and score. Last season in the Gulf South Conference, among players with 400 minutes played, Tylon Chatman ranked 8th in ORAPM and 17th in PPG while shooting in the Top 1/3rd of all guards in D2 in 2PT Percentage, 3PT Percentage, and Effective FG Percentage, with the only shooting zone where Chatman was below D2 averages was “Above the Break” 3 pointers, where he ranked in the 49th percentile.
In the past two seasons in the Big South, two players have been 6’ or shorter and averaged 50% from 2 and 35% from 3: Charleston Southern’s Luke Williams and High Point’s Bobby Pettiford. Tylon is truly a mix of both guards. For scoring, I think Tylon has a lot of Williams’ abilities, both coming from the D2 level with similar shooting profiles, especially compared to Pettiford.
UNC Asheville had a similar guard this past season, Justin Wright, who was only 2 inches taller. The season before, another very similar guard, Jordan Marsh, shot 49.5% from 2 and 31.5% 3. Both of which are viewed as some of the best guards in the Big South in recent history, with massive success in Mike Morrell’s system. Tylon Chatman could be the next guard to follow in their success.
Big Playmaker:
The other really shining part of Tylon Chatman’s game is his ability to play make and create for others. Tylon Chatman ranks in the 82nd percentile for D2 guards in Assist Percentage and the 85th percentile in Assist/TOV Ratio. The play-making ability becomes clearer in times when Tylon Chatman was the sole ball-handling point guard. Lee had an Offensive Rating of 116, a 12.3% Turnover Percentage that ranked in the 95th percentile, and a team Effective Field Goal Percentage of 59.6%, ranking in the 96th percentile.
Last season in the Big South, 6 players played over 400 minutes and had Assist Percentages between 17% and 22%, with Turnover Percentages below 15%. Once again, former UNC Asheville guard Justin Wright appears with Wright having a 19.3% Assist Percentage compared to 19.8% for Chatman, but Chatman excels in Assist to Turnover with 1.9x compared to Wright’s 1.2x. Both guards are used to being pivotal pieces to their offensive systems.
The Fit:
Truly, the biggest thing I love about this addition is the fit with Mike Morrell and what he has done well. In Mike Morrell’s tenure at Asheville, his best seasons have been when he has a strong playmaking guard surrounded by good shooters and an elite big man. Tylon Chatman will fit right into that strong playmaking point guard. He isn’t the playmaker that Burgess was in 22-23 and 23-24, but he also provides a stronger offensive upside than Burgess did.
In both 2022-23 and 2023-24, Burgess was surrounded by shooters and elite big men. While I don’t see any game-changing big men, Morrell did surround Chatman with 3 very good 3-point shooters, much like what Chatman had at Lee and what Burgess had at Asheville. The recipe is for Chatman to follow in the footsteps of the 3 Asheville PG’s before in Wright, Marsh, and Burgess and stamp his name in Asheville history.
Defensive Liability:
The biggest flaw in Tylon Chatman’s game comes on the defensive end, where Chatman, unlike on the offensive end, is not a net positive to his team. Last season at Lee, Tylon Chatman had both a negative DRAPM of -0.3 and a DWS/40 below the 50th percentile at 0.03, ranking in the 31st percentile. When Tylon Chatman was on the floor last season, Lee’s saw a 4.3-point slide in Defensive Rating, which placed him in the 24th percentile in On-Off Defensive Rating. That defensive rating jump put their defensive rating to 110.4, which places them in the 40th percentile when he is on the court, compared to the 65th percentile when he is off the court.
One reason I see upside on the defensive side is that last season Chatman played primarily shooting guard, compared to his ALL-sophomore season, when he played point guard. In 24-25’ Chatman played PG and had a 0.8 DRPAM, placing him in the 73rd percentile with a slightly improved 108.2 Defensive Rating and only a 1.1 Defensive Rating drop when he is on the court compared to off the court. Comparing his 24-25 season On/Off’s to his 25-26 On/Off’s, Lee was better with him on the court defensively in the 24-25 season compared to 25-26, except for Block Percentage and Blocks/PF.
Another reason I think the defensive concerns could be overblown is what Mike Morrell did with Justin Wright. Justin Wright, in 2023-24 at LMU before transferring to Asheville, had a DPRAM on -1.4 and a 0.03 DWS/40 with a 9.3 Defensive Rating drop, putting him in the 7th percentile. In 2025-26, Wright had a 0.7 DRPAM ranking 2nd in Asheville and in the 68th percentile, along with a 0.04 DWS/40, with Asheville in the 55th percentile of Defensive Rating when Wright is on court. It is very possible that Morrell can get a similar jump from a very similar guard.
Final Thoughts:
I think Tylon Chatman is the prototypical guard that Mike Morrell always gets the most out of. A guard that is on the smaller side, with very good control of his body and the court, and is a top-level offensive threat. Chatman reminds me of a more well-rounded Justin Wright. Both had similar shooting percentages as lead pieces in their offense, with similar playmaking attributes. Tylon is the better playmaker of the two, but Wright is the better scorer by about the same margin, in my opinion.
The comparisons to Wright don’t just stop there at playstyle. I think Chatman will have a similar role to Wright, as Asheville’s other guards don’t have the playmaking skill and overall threat of Chatman. I think Chatman will get the majority of the PG minutes and solid success while doing it. While I don’t think Chatman gets any all-league mentions at season’s end but still has a productive season as a focal point of Asheville’s offense.