Welcome to the Preseason – Basketball practice officially starts in 2 days, September 21st
Before last season, BTP posters were saying, “With all the roster turnover, I can’t remember who’s on the team this season.” We’re here to help!
We’re counting down the 10 days to the beginning of practice ’26-‘27 by taking another look at this season’s roster, focusing on the 10 players most likely to make an impact. This article is about one of the two transfers I am most excited about, Christian Hammond.
Basketball News
Evan Miya preseason rankings are out
NC State
- #35 in country with Ven Lubin
- #45 in country without Ven Lubin
- #19 Offense Rank
- #70 Defensive Rank
ACC ranks
#2 Duke, #11 Louisville,
#19 Miami, #21 Virginia, #35 NC State, #48 UNC, #50 Clemson, #53 Va Tech, #57 SMU, #60 Syracuse, #64 FSU, #69 Stanford, #73 Pitt, #84 Notre Dame, #88 California, #100 Wake Forest, #104 Georgia Tech, #106 Boston College
Predicted breakdown of minutes per player:
#1 Christian Hammond
Christian is the first recruit on Coach Gainey’s first team, signed the first week after the portal opened. And interestingly, his coach at Santa Clara was former long time Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek – the butt of many BTP jokes and the cause of much consternation amongst Wolfpack nation once upon a time. And similarly interesting, he’s known (now Wolfpack Graduate Assistant) Jordan Snell “since I was little.”
Christian took an odd path; he played 12.4 minutes per game as a freshman and started a couple of games but decided it was in his best interest to redshirt his sophomore season. It worked in a big way! Last year, his redshirt sophomore season, he increased his minutes to 30.2 per game, his scoring from 3.7 to a team leading 15.6, his rebounding from 1.7 to 3.0, and his assists from 1.0 to 2.5. He ended the season First team All-WCC.
- Ht / Wt: 6’4” / 195
- Position: Combo Guard
- PPG / RPG / APG: 15.6 / 3.0 / 2.5 Steals 1.2, Turnovers 1.7
- Shooting: 48.4% / 39.3% (53-135) / 78.7%
’25-’26 season Highs:
- Scoring – Season high 27 points, 27 games in double figures including 10 games with 20+
- Rebounds – 9 boards, 6 rebounds twice during conference play
- Assists – 5 assists, had at least one every game
Fun Facts: Christian is from a basketball family!
- His grandfather Julian played in the ABA for the Rockets.
- His dad Julian II played at LMU and professionally in Australia
- His mom played for Cal Poly
- His brother Julian III played for the University of Colorado
Strength
- Usage – high usage player, played both the shooting guard and point guard roles. Should be lower this season, but not a lot.
- Assists % / A/TO – He is a very good passer
Strength
- Steals – one of the best on the Wolfpack
Weakness
- Not an impressive rebounder and doesn’t block shots
Strength
- Shooting – Excellent 3PT percentage, can finish the fast break, shoots free throws well
Weakness
- Not an inside player, doesn’t get second chance points and doesn’t pickup fouls
Heat Map
Christian is solid from about anywhere on the floor, with the exception of the left side of the 3PT arc. And he doesn’t like the baseline. His shot selection is amazingly well balanced.
Close 2PT shots – 38.2% of his made shots, he shot 56.6%
Far 2PT shots – 34.6% of his made shots, he shot 48.5% from that distance
3PT shots – 27.2% of his made shots, he shot 39.7% from the arc
Mattew Winick (sports analyst)
“May have the sport’s best floater. No. 4 in floater makes [nationally] last season and is 55% on that shot for his career, which is insane! Had 23 more made floaters than anyone who played in the ACC last year. Leading scorer on an at-large team, not too shabby. Really capable scorer both on and off ball. Really good guard size and impactful defender overall.”
Patrick Stacy (GM)
“Really, really smart basketball player; willing defender; will score a lot for us this year”
Terrence Oglesby (analyst, Field of 68)
“Christian Hammond is one of the best transfers in the ACC – I am really excited about this kid”
Justin Gainey (Basketball Aficionado)
“I’ve been impressed with how strong and physical he plays.”
Expectations – Wolfpack nation is going to fall in love with this guy. As noted above beside the heat map, he is a three-level scorer and does so efficiently. He is equally comfortable with the ball in his hand or as a catch and shoot guy. Just like Preston Edmead, he is excellent shooting off the dribble, last season he ranked in the 95th percentile nationally.
He shoots well (39.7%) from the three point line, but his go-to move is an elite runner (floater) inside the arc. Often the concern when players transfer from mid-majors is how they are going to finish against bigger, more athletic, players. Christian has that figured out with his runner.
Defensively, he doesn’t really stand out, until you look closely. In isolation, players only shot 20% against him last season which ranked him in the 91st percentile nationally. That’s not because of height or athleticism, it’s because he understands how to defend. And his steal percentage ranks in the 69th percentile. So, while defense is definitely an area he needs growth (like most of the team), he’s got a good start. And his coach is a former guard who really knows how to defend.
Can he do it against P5 competition? Santa Clara played 4 last season
- Xavier (W) 15 pts / 2 reb / 3 assist
- Minnesota (W) 20 pts / 2 reb / 3 assist – 2 steals
- Arizona State (L -3) 22 pts / 1 reb / 3 assist – 2 steals
- NCAAT: Kentucky (L / OT) 9 pts / 5 reb / 4 assist – 2 steals
Christian is going to play a lot of minutes and score a lot of points for the Wolfpack this season.
