The shooter label can get thrown around in a pretty cavalier way in basketball circles.
It's meant as a compliment, but can often lack the proper substance and context needed to accurately characterize a player.
Xavier freshman Kam Craft is familiar with that label. It's been attached to him for a long time.
"All through high school, all through AAU I was stereotyped as just a shooter but I believe I'm way more than that," Kraft told The Enquirer. "I feel like I can get to the basket, shoot pull-ups, obviously make 3s, but more than that, I feel like I can make passes and be versatile on defense ‒ do a little bit of everything, not just stand in the corner and shoot 3s. This upcoming season I want to prove that I can do more than just shoot."
It hasn't taken long for the 6-foot-6 wing to elude that label at Xavier.
And not because he can't shoot ‒ he's been one of the Musketeers' best perimeter threats in the preseason ‒ but because he's capable, as he pointed out, of doing much more.
Craft's proven himself every day in practice against one of Xavier's best players, Colby Jones, a preseason All-Big East first-team selection.
"That's who I match up with every day," said Craft. "I watched him a lot last year. I look up to him. He's one of our best players and leaders and matching up with him every day makes me better.
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Craft and Jones play the same position, so the matchup was simple, but that doesn't mean head coach Sean Miller wasn't being intentional with that pairing.
"I tell Kam, I try to remind him of that because Colby is certainly one of our best players," said Miller. "I think he's one of the better players in the Big East Conference and he's very, very consistent himself in how he approaches practice.
"For Kam to be going against him every day, I remind Kam that sometimes when he has a tough practice, in some ways, it's because he's getting some unreal competition almost in every segment, every drill that we do."
It's not a one-sided battle, either. Some days, Jones gets the better of Craft. On other days, the freshman has the upper hand. It's a battle that both have found mutually beneficial.
"He's a great scorer," Jones said of Craft. "I feel like he's really just learning how to play the game at the college level. I feel like he's really grown a lot and it's fun going against him every day. He's a great player."
Jones said he wasn't expecting Craft to be where he's at right now as a freshman.
"Not at this level," said Jones. "He scores at a very high level. It's nice to see that at a young age. It's actually helping me going against him every day in practice."
Craft's greatest attributes are similar to his freshman teammate, Desmond Claude, and it's why Miller's so optimistic about his newcomers.
"The two things that stand out about Kam Craft and Des Claude are I can't believe how coachable they are and I can't believe how consistent they are," said Miller. "They're the same every day. I think in some ways, as much as you love Des's size or you love Kam's shot, what I just said is maybe more important because what that says is they're going to learn and improve almost on a weekly basis because they're so young. That's been the fun part about coaching both of them. It's their attitude, their demeanor, and their consistency and approach. Whether it's a lift, summer workout, team workout, practice, you pretty much know what you're gonna get from those guys, which is quite a statement."
Although it's early, Craft has looked like he will be able to help this year's team. His offensive ability speaks for itself. He can score at all three levels. He's still progressing defensively, but he seems committed to that process.
Whatever his role is and however it evolves, Craft is ready and he's confident in himself and his ability.
"(The coaches) have all the confidence in the world in me," said Craft. "You can't be scared out there. You gotta play with confidence."
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