Ben Humrichous: Size, Shooting, and Feel | The Prospect Overview
Ben Humrichous has something in common with Trey Murphy III, Cam Johnson, Sam Hauser, and Duncan Robinson. It's time to start paying attention to Evansville's 6'9" senior.
Feature: Ben Humrichous: Size, Shooting and Feel
Over the past 10 college basketball seasons, only four players have met the following threshold:
6’8” or taller
Assist to Turnover Ratio of 1.5
55% on twos
40% on threes while taking nine or more per 100 possessions
BPM of 5.5 or above
Those players are Duncan Robinson, Sam Hauser, Cam Johnson, and Trey Murphy III. These four were all regarded as lights-out shooters, but there are a lot of talented marksmen in college basketball. The reason these guys stuck in the NBA while other snipers didn’t is their size, ability to score when chased off the line, and their decision-making prowess. No one has met the above criteria and then flopped. Interestingly enough, another player is on pace to join them this season, and he’s received little mainstream attention. Enter Evansville senior Ben Humrichous.
The Background
Are you unfamiliar with Ben Humrichous? Did it feel like he came out of nowhere? Well, that’s because…he sort of did. This is his first season playing Division I basketball. For a more thorough detailed telling of his background, go check out my interview with him on the No Ceilings NBA podcast feed and YouTube channel. But the gist of it is this—Humrichous was a talented baseball player, too. Growing up in a family with five other siblings, he was only allowed to do one sport during the summer because his parents wanted to keep their sanity (my words as a parent myself, not his words about his parents). Baseball is a summer sport, so that soaked up much of his attention. He finally played AAU basketball prior to his senior year of high school, but his level of overall college interest wasn’t significant.
Still, Humrichous received an offer from Huntington, an NAIA school in his home state of Indiana. There, he steadily improved his overall game, which makes sense given that he made basketball his sport of primary focus later in life. After his junior season, he entered the transfer portal. His comfort level with the Evansville staff earned them his commitment. Despite scaling up in competition, Humrichous has been more productive than ever as a scorer while increasing his efficiency. He attributes this leap to the diligent nature of his training process and his faith.
Shooting
Humrichous has one of college basketball’s premier shooters this season. He’s launching 9.8 triples per 100 possessions and draining 44.4% of them. This makes him both a high-volume and high-efficiency threat. As a result, teams have to respect him on the perimeter. Still, guarding Humrichous tight and getting a hand in his face doesn’t seem to do much. Of his 93 three-point attempts this season, only 28 of them have been unguarded looks off the catch. Still, he’s drained 44.2% of his guarded catch-and-shoot threes. While he doesn’t have the highest release in the world, his size still helps him get shots off over defenders.
There’s also an NBA functionality to his shooting profile. Sure, he’s good at spotting up, but he can be more than a guy who gets parked in the corner. He’s a physical screener who is more than comfortable operating as a pop man. In transition, his clean shot prep footwork makes him a devastating trail threat. He’s also displayed the ability to move into his shot in handoff settings and moving off screens. Additionally, he’s a willing pull-up threat from deep. While 30.8% on pull-up threes (per Synergy) isn’t an otherworldly number, it’s a good one for someone this big, and the poise he displays on these attempts is beyond encouraging. Whether it’s pulling the trigger in a face up setting, side stepping a closeout, or taking what’s given when someone goes under a ball screen, Humrichous is a confident shooter off the bounce.
There’s a game I like to play when I make my board. I want to give a tip of the hat to our own Ignacio Rissotto for this one. It goes like this—if you can’t explain what a prospect does on an NBA floor in one sentence, you’re probably getting too cute with it. For Ben Humrichous, the pitch revolves heavily around his shooting. My summation of him would be, “6’9” flamethrower with physical strength and sharp instincts.” Hey, some of that sentence dealt with stuff other than shooting! Let’s get to that!
More Than a Shooter
The days of “pure specialists” seem to be coming to an end. There are exceptions, but they are rare, and I’d prefer not to bet on them. Shooters need to be able to respond when they get chased off the line, particularly in the playoffs. Humrichous has a few different ways to get buckets on the interior. He’s an effective cutter with good timing and awareness. Whether his defender zones out off the ball or if someone plays him too tight on the perimeter, Humrichous relishes opportunities to move off the ball and get clean looks at the cup. On these plays, he displays some real bounce off one foot and can finish above the rim.
There are two on-ball skills that stand out with Humrichous inside the arc. The first is that he’s comfortable putting the ball on the deck, and the second is that he readily punishes mismatches. He currently ranks in the 99th percentile as a pick-and-roll scorer per Synergy, with most of his field goal attempts coming on the interior on those play types. He’ll manipulate his defender by playing the ball screen in different ways, and he has multiple counter moves if he doesn’t get where he wants right away. If opponents try to throw a smaller guy on him, he’ll go back to the basket and bully his way to the cup. Still, his fundamentals as a ball handler prevent strips in these instances. While Humrichous’s most intriguing skill set is his shooting, the fact that he’s still taking 31.1% of his half court shots at the rim and converting 67.4% of them is worth getting excited about.
Humrichous has some juice to him as a passer, too. He does a good job of keeping his eyes up downhill and has showcased the ability to thread needles when necessary. While he likely won’t even be a secondary creator at the next level, it’s good to see that those instincts are there. His NBA role would likely see him act as more of a connector, and he’s rock solid in that respect. He can make sharp swings and “one more” skips. Rarely does it feel like Humrichous is taking too long to make a decision or monopolizing the ball.
Humrichous is a talented passer, but he also does a tremendous job of limiting his mistakes. An NBA coaching staff isn’t going to want a spot-up guy or low-maintenance shooter getting over their skis as a decision maker. Humrichous won’t do that. He knows who he is, how to play within himself, and how an offense is supposed to flow. Plus, there’s more good historical data on this front. Take a look at the list of big shooters with good BPMs who had an assist rate over ten and turnover rate below ten over the last decade.
Humrichous is in solid company! In total, there’s a lot to love on the offensive side of the ball. He’s got the size, the shot, and the feel. Now, let’s move over to the defense.
Defense
This is where I’m most concerned about Humrichous. At the point of attack, he can often be too narrow and upright. He needs to work on his lateral agility, especially as it pertains to his initial response when trying to contain quicker ball handlers. I wish he wasn’t as easy to shake with stepbacks and that his backward-forward spring was better. That said, I wouldn’t be writing about Humrichous if I thought he was a lost cause on this end. When he sits down in his stance, makes himself big, and uses his physicality, he often wins out. While he may not have the fastest lateral first step, he is a fluid enough mover. His size makes opponents leery of challenging him on an island. There are many instances of smaller, quicker guys testing him only to get swallowed up in the mid-range or at the basket.
Plus, Humrichous is a good shot blocker. He’s averaging 1.1 BPG and has a BLK% of 4.4, both good indicators for a forward prospect. His ground coverage is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, he’s locked in as an off-ball defender. He reads opposing offenses well and responds to what he sees in a hurry, which allows him to maximize the tools at his disposal. That sense of the game and his leaping ability are why he’s able to swat so many shots around the rim as a help defender.
Let’s be clear—Humrichous won’t be Jaden McDaniels. But his length, instincts, and physical strength could be enough to keep him above board. The bigger and more powerful a player is, the less I tend to worry about their defensive shortcomings—unless their role requires them to be a primary rim protector. Simply being a large human being who doesn’t get pushed around goes a long way. There’s work to be done from a technique and athleticism standpoint, but the fact that Humrichous is a late-bloomer who hasn’t had elite facilities at his disposal makes me more optimistic about him than others.
Forecast
I understand having concerns about Ben Humrichous. He’s a mid-major senior who you may just be learning about for the first time. It’s reasonable to see a big white dude playing at Evansville, see “agility concerns,” and get the ick. But I think that’s a shortsighted approach. If you want to get hung up on the things he can’t do, or doesn’t do exceptionally well, you are free to do so. But if that’s the path you choose, you’re ignoring a frightening amount of good.
Ben Humrichous is 6’9” and a deadeye shooter. He can make plays for himself and others with the ball, but he doesn’t need the ball. If a team needs him to just shoot it or keep it moving, he can do that. Still, his handle, timing as a cutter, and bounce at the rim give him ways to score inside the arc. While Humrichous does have an extra year of eligibility remaining, I’d be looking at him long and hard this year if I were an NBA front office. As I noted in a recent column, the average sixth through eighth man is 6’5.75”, shoots threes efficiently, and takes care of the ball. Size, shooting, and feel are premium skills, and Humrichous has all three.
Mid-Major Game of the Week
This week’s MMGOTW went down to the wire, with the Drexel Dragons topping the Hofstra Pride 79-77 on Thursday night.
I was most focused on Drexel’s 6’10” big man Amari Williams, who I covered during my No Stone Unturned series this offseason. He finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. The biggest selling point for Williams is his defense, so let’s start there. He led the country in defensive rating last season, and it’s because there’s nothing he can’t do. He’s got a big, strong body with long arms. Plus, he gets off the floor well. As a result, he’s a good shot blocker who also limits rim attempts because opponents simply don’t want to challenge him at the cup. But despite his massive frame, Williams is light on his feet. He’s beyond comfortable guarding on the perimeter and he has the speed to jump passing lanes. In this game, he forced dribble pick-ups and bad shots from behind the three-point line when he was on smaller opponents. He’ll be able to play in any ball screen coverage effectively.
Offensively, it wasn’t an unbelievable outing, but Williams was effective. He set good screens, demonstrated his quickness rolling out of ball screens, and went up strong at the rim like always. Where I was most pleased was with his subtle improvements as a decision-maker. He’s always had some passing upside, but he can get too forceful trying to create, leading to turnovers. This was the least “fluff” I’ve seen from him offensively in a while. He made his decisions quickly and didn’t try to get too fancy with anything. This offseason, Coach Zach Spiker told me that Williams was working hard on his free throws, and that has been working out for him. He went 4-5 on the night, and he’s up from 60.6% to 65.7% on the year.
Williams has never had a huge amount of buzz, but I’ve always really believed in him. He’s a stellar defender and great rebounder with an NBA-ready body. He’s always had some passing juice, and he’s been more refined in that respect this year. Plus, he’s been great against bigger school opposition over the last two years. He had 12 points and five blocks in an upset win over Villanova this season and a double-double with four stocks against Seton Hall last season. He has a valuable skill set, the requisite physical traits, and a good resume against good opponents. At the next level, his role will be much different. He’ll be rolling to the basket more than posting up and orchestrating the offense. Still, I believe he has the tools to scale down in role successfully while scaling up in competition. He’s been in my Top 100 all year, and he deserves draftable consideration.
On the Hofstra side of things, Tyler Thomas and Darlinstone Dubar are both fringe prospects who could end up making some noise. Let’s start with Thomas, who went off for 34 points on 12-23 shooting with six assists and six rebounds. The 6’3” graduate guard is an electric shotmaker, and every shot feels like it has a chance to go in. He has the dribbling and footwork prowess to create space for himself, but even when he launches without his balance, you can’t count him out. Thomas doesn’t have bad tunnel vision either, as he’s more than willing to leverage his scoring gravity to create for his teammates. He’ll also be helped by the fact that he’s not a shrimp physically and covers ground well. He ended the game with two blocks, including one on a hard closeout to the corner at the end of the first half.
There is a bit of a stigma against mid-major point guards. One big question that NBA decision-makers will have is how effective Thomas’s mid-range and perimeter-heavy scoring game can be at the next level. He rarely gets all the way to the rim, and he’s not much of a finisher when he gets there. If he’s struggling to get inside now, how is he going to do that against bigger, stronger athletes? Will he be able to create space against guys the same way? They’re tough questions, but they’re fair ones. Given that he’s averaging 22.3 PPG, Thomas is still going to be on radars during the pre-draft process. During that time, he’ll have a chance to make his case, potentially even at events like G League Elite Camp and the Portsmouth Invitational.
Despite a quiet outing (nine points on nine shots), Darlinstone Dubar is still a guy who should generate pretty significant NBA interest. Listed at 6’8”, Dubar looks and moves like an NBA wing. He’s scoring 17.7 PPG on 51.7/40.3/71.4 splits. His 40.3% mark from three becomes even more impressive when considering his career-high 5.9 attempts per game. The shooting motion concerns me, as he starts with the ball to the side of his opposite hip and brings it across his body as he moves it up into his release. Despite that, he hit a critical triple late in the game to help Hofstra claw away at the lead. On defense, he brings a real level of intensity. He moves hard and fast in space while utilizing his length to disrupt the opposing offense. His 1.9 STL% and 3.4 BLK% are both good defensive indicators for a forward. There’s a three-and-D pitch that can be made for him. How teams feel about his shooting mechanics and his lack of playmaking ability (8.5 AST%, which is a scary mark as a career-high for a mid-major player) will determine if he’s more of a two-way, E10, or Summer League target whenever he enters the fold.
Next week’s Mid-Major Game of the Week will be San Francisco vs. St. Mary’s! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter/X to vote in future MMGOTW polls!
Quick Hits
-I’ve seen Alex Sarr sliding down some boards, and I can’t get there. Sure, he may not be Chet Holmgren or Victor Wembanyama. But at the end of the day, there are still very few 7’1” players with his agility, skill, and ability to process the game. He’s sixth in the NBL in BPG despite only playing a little over 17 minutes per contest. His agility allows him to switch down the positional spectrum. While his three-ball isn’t automatic, his 28.9% on steady volume is rock solid for a player his size in a pro at 18 years old. Plus, he can put it on the deck and has some chops as a playmaker. While he may not be a dominant force, he still possesses a rare collection of traits, and the value of that should not be understated.
-6’11” Baylor freshman Yves Missi is a force, and we shouldn’t lose sight of that. He has exceptional lateral agility for a player with his build, and he can jump out of the gym. He always goes up as hard as possible, whether it’s to fight for an offensive rebound or to send home a thunderous dunk. I get it—he’s a low-assist guy who doesn’t have a lot of ball skills, and he’s unlikely to ever space the floor. But the combination of his physical profile and motor should make him an undeniable, long-term NBA player. I’d be more than willing to be patient with a player like Missi while he rounds out his game given what he’ll be able to offer out of the gate.
-I’m really enamored with 6’8” Miami freshman Kyshawn George. Similar to Ben Humrichous, he’s bringing size, shooting, and feel to the table, but with more athleticism at a younger age. George’s 42% from long range on 10.5 attempts per 100 is eyebrow-raising. His shooting, long attacking strides, rebounding ability, and passing make him tailor-made for the up-and-down, early-offense nature of the NBA. Even if the on-ball creation stuff doesn’t fully round into form, he still has sharp connective instincts. On defense, he does a fantastic job of navigating screens and uses his hands well guarding the ball. His counting numbers may be mundane, but he’s a valuable archetype of player who can fit in any system and does the important things well.
-Creighton’s Trey Alexander has gotten his shot back going again. After going 29.1% from deep during the non-conference schedule, he’s gone 34.2% since. Even with the lower percentage from deep, the shooting indicators have been stellar—he’s hit 81.8% of his free throws and 51.9% of his pull-up twos this year. He’s still a clever passer and potent positional rebounder. Throw in a 6’10” wingspan, and he’s got good positional size for an NBA guard. Plus, he’s looked better athletically, displaying more quickness and genuine bounce off one foot in the halfcourt. A strong closing stretch could get him back into that Top 25 mix given the variety of boxes he checks.
-We’ve got to talk about Johni Broome, because he’s been really good this year. Broome cleaned up at G League Elite camp this past offseason (this is the fourth time I’ve made this pun. I used it in my recap column, again later on, and I’m actually going to use it for a third time on the podcast this weekend. I’m writing this before we record that episode, so I’m calling my shot Babe Ruth-style here). A big part of that was that he looked the part as a floor spacer. After a slow start from deep this year, he’s up to 38.5% from deep on 2.1 attempts per game from deep. He’s also looked slimmed down and more comfortable when switched down onto smaller players. Still, he’s a good rim protector with a 10.3 BLK%. I’d previously sweated his measurements (6’9” barefoot, 7’0” wingspan) and how well his interior-based game could scale up. But given his physical strength, continued growth as a shooter, and improvements as a passer, he may now have an additional path as a “big who can play next to another big.”
-It’s been nice to see Ben Gregg get some after a big outing against Kentucky. The 6’10” junior was always one of those “I know the counting numbers aren’t there, but I’m interested” dudes. He’s a great defensive mover with a STL% of 3.1 and BLK% of 3.0. Gregg gets off the floor well and can slide with smaller guys. His motor doesn’t shut off, and he’ll disrupt plays in transition. On offense, he can crash the offensive glass or move into a jumper from three. A career 34.7% from deep who’s only scoring 8.5 PPG, teams probably won’t be sprinting to the podium to call his name on draft night. But if a team buys the shot, he’d definitely be worth an E-10 or a Summer League spot. There’s absolutely a path for him to end up on a two-way if he decided to come out this year.
-Nebraska’s Brice Williams has quietly put together a great season. The 6’7” wing has kept his three-ball since transferring up, knocking down 39.4% of his triples. He’s also a solid rebounder and clever passer, averaging 5.6 RPG and 2.5 APG to only 1.9 TOV. While his defensive metrics profile well (1.9 STL%, 2.5 BLK%), Williams is a bit limited athletically and doesn’t have the fastest reaction times. Still, a 6’7”, well-rounded power conference producer with a good jumper deserves more discussion than Williams has received thus far.
-I remain interested in Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams as a long-term proposition. The 6’6” sophomore (who I covered during my No Stone Unturned series this offseason) is a high-feel stat sheet stuffer, averaging 10.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.5 RPG. This week, he dropped 30 on 12-12 shooting against Kansas. The two focal points for Williams going forward should be his three-point volume and athleticism. While Williams is canning 42.6% of his threes, he still only takes a modest 5.3 per 100 possessions. I want to see him let it fly! In terms of athleticism, he’s still a hair slow-footed and ground bound. That’s eaten into his stock totals and limited his defensive output despite his ability to process the game. Williams has time on his side, and I can’t wait to see how his game develops going forward.