Memphis continues to evaluate talent in the transfer portal, and it has shown interest in Southeast Missouri State guard Luke Almodovar. The junior spent two seasons at the NAIA level before making the jump to Division I, where he averaged 14.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Almodovar started his career at Saint Francis University, an NAIA program in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was named First-Team All-Conference before making the jump to SEMO. The guard appeared in all 33 games and made 23 starts, and he led the team in points per game and finished third in minutes per game.
Almodovar has mainly played off the ball, and he could be another scoring threat for the Tigers.
Shooting
The guard shot 42.4 percent from the field last season but only 31.6 percent from deep on 6.3 attempts per game. While he’s 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, 31 percent of Almodovar’s shots came at the rim last season on transition opportunities or attacking the rim.
While he struggled to knock down threes at SEMO, he shot over 40 percent both seasons at the NAIA level. The guard isn’t afraid to let it fly, and if he can get back to knocking down threes consistently, he could be a huge scoring option.
The guard had a 25.1 usage percentage last season with the Redhawks, and he finished the year with a true shooting percentage of 57 percent.
Playmaking
The guard was used mainly as a scoring option last season, and he only averaged 0.7 assists per game. While he didn’t record a lot of assists, he also didn’t turn the ball over very often.
The guard only averaged one turnover per game and finished the season with a 7.2 turnover percentage, which ranked in the 94th percentile.
Rebounding
Almodovar is a good rebounder for his size, and he averaged 3.7 rebounds per game last year. The guard averaged 4.7 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes, and he had 10 games with five or more rebounds at SEMO.
Defense
Defensively, Almodovar averaged a steal and 0.2 blocks per game, and he recorded at least one steal in eight of the last 10 games of the season, including four steals in an overtime game against UT Martin.
The guard entered the offseason with a positive defensive regularized plus-minus and defensive win shares per 40, meaning he can make a positive impact on the defensive end of