After missing out on the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons at Tennessee, Admiral Schofield helped the Volunteers to two straight appearances. Over that same span, he was an All-SEC selection twice, including first-team honors this past season. The muscular forward produced an efficient senior season, averaging 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on .478/.418/.698 shooting splits.
Schofield’s strength is something to marvel at – he’s built like an NFL tight end. He has the height of a guard (6-foot-5) and the weight (241 pounds) and length (6-foot-10 wingspan) of a forward. He is a solid all-around athlete, who is surprisingly light on his feet; in fact, he posted the fourth quickest shuttle time at this year’s NBA Combine.
Scofield’s best attributes are his versatility, energy, and hustle. He contributes in a number of different ways on both ends of the court, and is willing to do the dirty work. He comes from a military family, and he is a team-first player.
On offense, Schofield has a diverse attack. His combination of strength and athleticism gives him the ability to score inside and out. He can bury guards in the paint, and he can drive by bigger players on the perimeter. He is not a very agile ball handler, but he protects the ball, and makes timely passes. He’s effective in the post, in transition, and in isolation. He can play on either end of the pick and roll, too. However, what he does the most is spot-up, which accounted for nearly a quarter of his possessions this season.
Schofield steadily improved as an outside shooter during his four years at Tennessee, as he shot nearly 42 percent from deep this past season. When shooting, he rises high off the ground and releases the ball high above his head, with a clean follow through, allowing him to shoot over taller defenders. As an overall jump shooter in the half court, Schofield ranked at the 72nd percentile for points per possession (PPP), and he fared equally well whether he was catching and shooting (67th percentile) or shooting off the bounce (62nd percentile).
According to Synergy’s numbers, Schofield was one of the better defenders in the nation as a junior, and below average as a senior, ranking at 90th percentile for PPP allowed in 2017-18 and at the 39th percentile this season. The truth is somewhere in between. He has plenty of muscle to defend in the paint, but he lacks the ideal length and vertical explosiveness to be a great interior defender. At the same time, he lacks the necessary athleticism to defend speedy guards on the perimeter.
Schofield gives good effort on the defensive end, but his awareness and reaction time are not the best, which mainly shows up as a team defender. He can be slow to rotate and close out, and he has difficulty changing direction when he needs to react quickly. He also is not the best at trailing and getting around screens. That said, he is more than capable as a one-on-one defender, and he ranked well defending in isolation as both a junior (63rd percentile) and a senior (87th percentile).
Entering the NBA, Schofield has the mentality, versatility, strength and shot-making ability to make an immediate impact, and he is a likely candidate to be a second-round draft pick. He has his physical limitations, and his long-term potential is not great, but he could become a productive small-ball forward in the right situation.
| Position: | SF | Team/Class: | Tennessee (Sr.) |
| Birthday: | 3/30/97 | Nationality: | United States |
| Height: | 6-5 | Weight: | 241 |
| Wingspan: | 6-10 | Vertical: | 30 inches (standing), 34 (max) |
| Shot Hand: | Right | Stats: | Click here |
Strengths:
- Athletic build: 6-foot-5, 6-foot-10 wingspan, 241 pounds
- Efficient all-around scorer; ranked at the 82nd percentile in terms of points per possession this season
- High-release point, good follow through, and quick on the catch and shoot; made 41.8 of his 3-pointers this season, and ranked at the 72nd percentile for PPP on all jumpers in the half court
- Great in isolation; ranked at the 90th percentile for PPP this season and also ranked 90th in isolation when including passes
- Very efficient in spot up situations; ranked at the 86th percentile for PPP
- Ability to finish shown in transition; ranked at the 98th percentile for PPP
- Capable of scoring and passing from both the high and low posts; when including passes in the post, he respectfully ranked at the 65th and 55th percentiles for PPP over the last two seasons
- Good rebounder wing; grabbed 6.1 boards per game, and ranked at the 77th percentile for put-backs in terms of PPP this season
- Protects the basketball; had a turnover rate per possession of 11.1 percent this season
- Excellent defender in isolation; ranked at the 87th percentile for PPP this season
Weaknesses:
- Still developing as a handler in the pick and roll; ranked at the 48th percentile for PPP this season, and was even worse when including passes, ranking at the 24th percentile
- Struggled as an off-screen shooter this season, which accounted for 15 percent of his offensive possessions; ranked at the 27th percentile for PPP, after ranking at the 72nd percentile as a junior
- Average A/T ratio of 1.05 this season
- Doesn’t draw many fouls (2.3 FTAs per game this season)
- As an overall defender, dropped from the 90th percentile in terms of PPP allowed to the 40th percentile from his junior to his senior season
- Regularly late on close outs this season; ranked at the 45th percentile for PPP allowed as a spot-up defender
- Struggles to defend plays that involve screen action
- Lack of elite athleticism and reaction time are concerns as a defender at the next level
- Lackluster numbers as a defensive playmaker; averaged just 1.25 combined steals and blocks per game this season.
Sources, Credits, and Acknowledgements: Stats used in our scouting reports mainly come from Synergy Sports Technology and RealGM.com, and occasionally from Hoop-Math.com and Sports-Reference.com. The photo was courtesy of Tennessee Athletics. Other outside sources are noted with links to the source.
