Transfer Portal Deep Dive: UNC Asheville Mitchell Taylor
My personal thoughts and observations of UNC Asheville transfer guard Mitchell Taylor
As the Transfer Portal, SearchSZN, and all of the other offseason festivities comes to an end. It’s time to start looking forward, WHILE also looking back as we dive into some of the new players for ALL 9 Big South teams.
For analysis: I will pick 3 games, 1 game that stood out as a GOOD game, 1 game that stood out as a BAD game, and 1 games that was average.
(If I can’t find 3 games, I will then go to portal film/shot charts and analytics)
Mitchell Taylor Background:
Mitchell Taylor comes to UNC Asheville after very productive freshman and sophomore seasons at SC State, both season he averaged over 8 PPG, 2 APG and 2 RPG while being an occasional starter, playing in 63 games starting 37 of those 63.
In his freshman season, Taylor was lucky enough to have been named to the All MEAC Rookie Team after winning MEAC Rookie of the Week twice throughout the season.
In his sophomore season, Taylor stayed steady, averaging about the same stats across the board but became more efficient while doing it, taking his FG% up 5.7% and his 3PT% up an amazing 15.4%.
Mitchell Taylor Game Notes/Analysis:
Mitchell Taylor “Good” Game: 1/25/25 at NC Central
Stats: 16 points (5-12 from the field, 5-5 FT’s), 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Notes:
Very active defender, always in a good position despite being bigger than most Point Guards.
Good playmaker, realizes when he is not in a good position and isn’t afraid to dish to ball to someone else.
Able to feed Drayton Jones (SC State’s Center) with ease, almost like they have telepathic abilities with each other.
Very good in P&R offense, again due in part to chemisty with Drayton Jones.
Good free throw shooter, also very good at getting to the line.
Mitchell Taylor “Average” Game: 12/16/23 at Pittsburgh
Stats: 6 points (3-6 from the field), 4 rebounds
Notes:
Does tend to get blown by faster guards, especially on P&R.
Very active in passing lanes, always trying to disrupt passes.
Has a very fast first step, but not an amazing speed after that, gets chased down.
Really good P&R guard, just seems to usually make the right read.
Very much able to play through contact
Does make risky/careless passes at times, especially when trying to feed the ball to his big man.
Mitchell Taylor “Bad” Game: 3/15/25 vs Norfolk State
Stats: 3 points (1-5 from the field), 3 assists, 2 rebounds
Notes:
Very handsy on defense, leads to some unnecessary foul calls.
Struggles to really create any seperation off the dribble.
Does take and can make tough shots.
Very good at noticing when to pass the ball.
Not afraid to take open shots, and gets his shot out pretty quick.
Mitchell Taylor Analytics and Shot Chart:
Good Shooting Analytics:
True Shooting Percentage: 58.2% (81st percentile)
3PT Percentage: 42.9% (95th percentile)
Good Playmaking Analytics:
AST Percentage: 24.4% (89th percentile)
AST Ratio: 21.8% (80th percentile)
Free Throw Attempt Rate: 43.9% (84th percentile)
AST/Usage: 1.1x (85th percentile)
Good Defensive Analytics:
Steal Percentage: 3.2% (87th percentile)
Good ALL Consuming Metrics:
ORAPM: 0.9 (70th percentile)
Win Shares Per 40: 0.14 (85th percentile)
Offensive Win Shares Per 40: 0.7 (75th percentile)
Defensive Win Shares Per 40: 0.7 (86th percentile)
Bad Shooting Analytics:
3PT Attempt Rate: 31.1% (22nd percentile)
Bad Playmaking Analytics:
Turnover Percentage: 18.9% (21st percentile)
Bad Defensive Analytics:
Block Percentage: 0.0% (12th percentile)
Personal Fouls Per 40 Mins: 3.9 (22nd percentile)
Shot Charts (compared to Jordan Marsh)
Comparison Notes:
If you compare Marsh in 23-24 (the season before he went UNC Asheville), he has a very similar shot chart to Mitchell Taylor’s 24-25 season (this most recent season).
The one glaring thing is Taylor was more efficient coming into Asheville than Marsh, also has a deeper bag from beyond the arc than Marsh did.
The one thing that could and likely will limit Taylor’s upside compared to Marsh is overall speed, Marsh got to the rim with speed, Taylor gets to the rim with more power and toughness.
On/Off Analytics:
Notes:
These have to be some of the wildest On/Off Splits I have seen, making an 11.7 NET Rating Change, and 12.3 ORTG change, over 5% EFG boost, Taylor was an offensive ENGINE.
The only On/Off that even slighty scares me is the Turnover Percentage, but even then, the ball was safe with him ON the court.
Final Thoughts on Mitchell Taylor:
I really an interested in Taylor, he has the offensive upside to fill a role left vacant by Jordan Marsh, and with an All Conference Big Man in Toyaz Solomon he has a really good P&R partner, but he does lack some of the strengths that made Marsh an Player of the Year player last season.
If Taylor can beat out Clarke and any other challengers for the starting PG spot, I could very well see Taylor being an All 2nd Team level guard, with maybe even a few votes for Player of the Year/1st Team.