Jordan Dingle — The Shot Maker
CBB Transfers Up: 23–24 Season
Hometown: Valley Stream, New York / D.O.B: 07.14 2000 / 6’3–200lbs / Senior at St John’s — Big East
22–23 statline at Penn University: 23.4pts, 2.3ast, 3.6rbs / 46.4 FG%, 35.8 3P%, 85.6 FT% — 0.8 ATO Ratio
Role — Bankable Skill: Power Guard — Shot Maker
D Matchup Versatility: 1–2 spots
It was only a year ago that the Ivy League was looking forward to a truly special season of hoops that ended with a Princeton’s trip to the Sweet 16. The Ancient Eight had two fantastic players advertising its strength and promise; Tosan Evbuomwan and Jordan Dingle. Fast forward to the present moment and both are gone. The British point-forward went undrafted in the summer and will play in the G League waiting for an NBA opportunity after attending the Detroit Pistons training camp. Meanwhile the Penn lead-guard has moved back to his native New York with St John’s for his last year of eligibility. Examples of how the process goes these days, but also of how the irruption of the NIL rights and the transfer portal have changed and reshaped College Basketball forever.
It was no secret the 2nd scorer in the nation was always to be coveted by many high-major schools, but the timing of Dingle’s departure was unexpected. We can’t criticize his decision, though. The Blair Academy product has proved his worth and love for the Quakers many times over the years, but playing in The Garden and for a coach like Rick Pitino was too good of a chance to let it pass. The Big East renaissance and the opportunity to showcase himself at such stage have surely played a part in Dingle’s decision, too. The Ivy League POY has accepted the challenge and will become a key piece for St John’s alongside Joel Soriano’s dominant presence in the low blocks.
One of the biggest markets in the land, huge expectations, a load of talent arriving from the portal, and a proven winner in the sidelines. Are the Johnnies a NCAA tournament team? Time will tell. Until then, lets take a look at Dingle’s profile and what he brings to Queens.
OFFENSE: THREE-LEVEL BUCKET GETTER
At 6’3 and 200lbs, Jordan Dingle is literally built like a boxer. Sturdy upper body and unusual core strength for a perimeter guy, plus broad shoulders to go with intriguing length (wingspan N/A). Crucially, Dingle is still light on his feet and has a low centre of gravity, so he can make the most of his agility and athletic tools when he has the rock in his hands. With such an impressive physical package you can easily picture Dingle as an imposing power-guard that slashes and bulldozes his way to the hoop, makes tough shots and fits in any offensive set up. You are right. Dingle is extremely productive in the lane and scores 8.2pts as Pick-and-Roll ball handler and driver off handoffs every game (by InStat).
It’s about recognizing mismatches and exploiting advantages in straight lines with his muscle, soft touch and floater game. But also about skill on-the-ball to create rim pressure and deliver the goods in ISO plays (1.02PPP) with a vast array of moves at his disposal (changes of direction/speed, some fakes at the rim, and in-and-out dribbles). With Dingle there’s always a back-dribble or an step-back available to get separation for the layup, the runner or the jump-stop and middy pull-up jumper. We cant forget either that Jordan’s talent in the open court (2.4pts in transition), or his natural ability to draw contact and get to the charity stripe 6 times per night shooting a clip of 85.6% from there.
Besides his high offensive usage (34.5%), Dingle has flourished under the Quakers’ head-coach Steve Donahue as a genuine off-ball threat (2.9pts/game) with his frame, vertical leap and timing at the hoop. He has bought right into Penn’s traditional 5–0 schemes, in which they spread the floor and 6’9 lefty forward Nick Spinoso becomes the focal point in mid-court offense with his best AJ Brodeur impersonation.
As prolific as he can be from the rim to the elbow, Dingle’s firepower extends well beyond that. Over his time at Penn Jordan has become a legit three-level scorer in his own right, working on his range and hitting a career-best 35.8% from behind the arc last season in just under eight attempts per outing. Efficiency increases when Dingle shoots above the break from either side (38% on the left and 37% on the right) proving his willingness to pull up from downtown. Jordan has made impressive strides mechanics since his freshman year regarding his shooting and going into his two-motion form with the one-two step. Battle hardened in the mid-range, Dingle has a consistent release at the top of his jump which provides 1.25 PPP in Catch-and-Shot situations. In addition, Dingle is pretty confident with his pull-up off the bounce, a recurrent and smooth weapon within his repertoire that he shows in a bigger volume every given night, like his 60.5 True-Shooting % displays.
PLAYMAKING: SECOND SIDE INITIATOR WITH ROOM TO GROW
Despite the fact that Jordan Dingle’s has been regularly tasked with the nominal PG role for Penn (alongside 6’1 junior Clark Slajchert), we need to note how much of the Quakers’ offense relies on Princeton principles of 5-out, passing, cutting and quick decision-making. As we mentioned earlier, Steve Donahue likes his big man to operate in the high post/at the top of the key, and Nick Spinoso is usually the man calling the shots and feeding his teammates via backdoors with 3.1asts per game. Accordingly but not exclusively, Dingle has performed as a secondary playmaker during his three years at The Palestra, and has developed a strong ‘1–2 punch’ partnership with Spinoso in the process. Their understanding shows off in Pick-and-Roll action at times, but mainly in handoff situations where Dingle gets the ball and goes downhill with a head of steam before picking the next shot/pass.
Undoubtedly Dingle has the athletic tools to prevail in traffic and the court vision to make teammates better. He can hit the roll-man with a jump pass, find the baseline cutter or the open spot-up shooter by holding on the ball and leveraging his gravity in the lane, although his 0.8 A:TO ratio suggests he can still improve the quality of his reads and avoid dark alleys and tough looks. Ball security and cutting turnovers is surely one of the reasons Dingle has chosen to work with Rick Pitino, and growth in this area will multiply his NBA Draft stock, player versatility and value. While it’s obvious that things will be run differently as St John’s with a beast like Joel Soriano in the paint, it would go a long way for the Red Storm if the Dingle-Spinoso society can somehow be replicated with the 6’11 Dominican Republic youth international Soriano.
DEFENSE: PULL YOUR WEIGHT, AND THEN SOME
There is no shortcuts for Rick Pitino, especially when you talk about defense. The 70 year-old Hall-of-Famer coach has had more teams in the top 5 of the defensive rantings than outside the top 40 through his long career at high-major level. Most recently he made the Iona Gaels a MAAC juggernaut putting the emphasis on his traditional defensive concepts. To stay on the floor with him, you’ll need to defend your ass off, and then some more. High standards that turn promising rosters into contenders, and later champions.
For Pitino everything starts in the backcourt. He loves his guards to settle the pace and apply pressure on the opposition ball-guard looking to primary disrupt and slow down the attack, but also to get deflections and turnovers when possible. Whether his teams are going for full-court press, a 2–3 matchup-zone or adjusting to an aggressive man-to-man, the hustle doesn’t stop. Defenders must be always alert to jump the ball handler, or maybe switch assignments and make well-timed rotations. It’s fair to say that Jordan Dingle’s length, instincts and agility fit like a glove here. At Penn, and even though he was primarily used as an offensive motor, Dingle’s quick hands produced a total of 1.1 steals every game going for the double team, staying in front, playing the passing lanes or acting as help defender. More importantly, he was able to turn a good number of those steals into easy buckets for himself or his teammates.
Watching Dingle anticipating an entry pass, ripping the ball from the hands of an opponent or trapping in the baseline/sideline, is surely a mouthwatering prospect for Pitino and his staff. Until now we had seen a good deal of Dingle putting the work on his own end with solid rebounding, awareness and defensive upside against the Philly Big-Five and Ivy League opposition, but we should expect much more of these against Big East and Power Five programs as Jordan expands his two-way impact on games.
EXPECTATIONS
It’s hard to believe a school with St John’s tradition and love for the sport hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since the year 2000. Will Rick Pitino change the Johnnies’ luck? We could argue he has already done so just with his presence and the way he sets standards. A win-now attitude, savvy words and hype, but also a ton of work behind the scenes in order to assemble an impressive 10-man transfer class and a whole new roster ready to follow the Pitino way. Pitino has dig in the transfer portal for shooters after Mike Anderson’s team made just 32.1% from deep last season. And he’s delivered a good bunch of them; Dingle, RJ Luis Jr, Nahiem Alleyne, Daniss Jenkins, Brady Dunlap… They all can stretch the floor and open the paint for Soriano and driving lanes for themselves, especially in Dingle’s case.
Despite some minor injuries that have forced Jordan and Luis to sit out in the pre-season scrimmages, St John’s line up looks all but set for the opener against Stony Brook: Jenkins, Luis, Soriano, Dingle himself and fellow Ivy Leaguer Chris Ledlum. Because of his leadership and experience, Dingle looks the most consistent option in the backcourt, but naturally there are questions about how his profile and scoring prowess will translate to Big East play. There’s none in my book, though. He has performed well in the past against high-major teams and multiple defensive adjustments, and constantly finds ways to get the job done. If anything, the Ivy Hoops POY might need a moment to find his groove and get used to his new teammates and environment, but his physicality and bucket-getter poise are all the same a difference maker at college level.
At this point we can all agree that Dingle’s shooting volume and scoring numbers are bound to go down especially because of St John’s depth. But you can expect every other bit of his game to go places under a player-developer such as Rick Pitino who previously has moulded the likes of Donovan Mitchell or Terry Rozier into NBA prime-guards. To bring the Johnnies back to relevance is the obvious first goal. To learn and embrace a more NBA-paced game while improving decision-making and polishing habits on both ends will be equally as important. The New York kid, the son of Dana Dingle, is back home. Big jump, big stage, big dreams. And only a way to get there. To put in the work to win and also to become the best pro-hooper he can be. For now, we’ll just jump on the bandwagon.
