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Sparks is left-hand dominant and wants to dribble and pass with his strong hand almost exclusively.Īs a sophomore, Sparks was more than a willing passer and saw the entire floor when holding the ball. He handles the ball well enough to execute dribble handoffs. Lewis and the Cardinals used Sparks in ball screens diving to the rim, face-ups in the mid-range, and at the top of the key moving the ball. Nevertheless, he played much better as his freshman year developed. He struggled against UMass and Xavier as a freshman, but that was the start of his collegiate career, and it took Sparks time to get his feet under him at Ball State. His conversion rate this season was above average, but for comparison, Race Thompson finished 65.5 percent of his attempts at the rim this season.īall State did not play any high-major teams this year, so there was no chance to see how he would fit in athletically and production-wise against that competition. With that in mind, Sparks shot 62.8 percent around the rim, per, up from 58.2 percent as a freshman. He also labors to move laterally in space on the defensive end. He elevates well off one foot, but that does not often happen for centers. He is not elevating over defenders to score, but Sparks will go through the body of opposing post players to draw fouls.Īthleticism is one of the biggest concerns for Sparks jumping to the high-major level. Sparks gets to the foul line by initiating contact while pivoting to keep defenders off balance. Trayce Jackson-Davis achieved a 46.6 percent free-throw rate this season, but anything over 40 percent is excellent.

That is found by dividing free-throw attempts by field goal attempts.

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The 203 free throws equate to an incredible free-throw rate – 87.6 percent. When he failed to convert, his impact dropped through the floor. When he made free throws, his positive impact went up considerably. In his best games, Sparks went to the free-throw line and converted. He made 70.3 percent of his free throws as a freshman compared to 52.5 percent this season. As a sophomore, his two-point percentage increased, while his free-throw percentage dropped. The Winchester, Indiana native had similar production numbers in each of his two seasons in Muncie. It will drop a bit moving to the Big Ten, but typically rebounding translates well from level to level. That would have been the highest on Indiana this season.

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He was second in the MAC with a 12.9 percent offensive rebound rate. He posted fantastic rebounding rates on both ends of the court. The best thing Sparks did at Ball State was rebound. Ohio State, Butler, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Pitt were among the dozens of schools that contacted Sparks once he entered the portal. He was a hot commodity on the transfer market after entering. Sparks was the MAC Rookie of the Year in 2022, and he made the All-MAC second team this season for Michael Lewis.

Sparks is the first commitment the Hoosiers have received since Malik Reneau committed on April 18, 2022. Sparks comes to Bloomington with two seasons of eligibility. He averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Cardinals this year as a sophomore. Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers received a commitment from Ball State transfer center Payton Sparks today. Payton Sparks handles the ball against Michigan Tech (Photo: Ball State Athletics, 247Sports)

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