The Ole Miss Hoops Handbook: Austin Nunez
OXFORD, Miss. — Welcome back. Today’s installment marks the third edition of “The Ole Miss Hoops Handbook.” We’re about halfway through our series. So far we’ve taken a look at a good mixture of players who are returning from last year as well as some newcomers via the transfer portal. If you are interested in catching up on the rest of the series take a look HERE. Today, we take a look at transfer Austin Nunez.
Editor’s note: This “Ole Miss Hoops Handbook” series is set to help the Ole Miss community get familiar with these players and help build excitement for the upcoming season. Every day, The Rebel Walk will highlight an individual player to breakdown his game and describe what you can look forward to and where we can look for more growth this season.
Each player’s breakdown consists of notes from both the summer scouting and some re-watch of film this fall. On top of game film, an analysis was then formed alongside a statistical breakdown from several different sources. I have watched multiple games for each player to help give an accurate picture of their game. In an effort to give a better view, I tried to watch one game where a player had larger success statistically and one where his impact may have been overlooked by the box score.
Let’s take a look at today’s focus player: Austin Nunez
Last year and the offseason:
Before entering the transfer portal, Nunez spent last season playing for Bobby Hurley at Arizona State. A logjam at the guard position kept Nunez into a rotational role as the Sun Devils had both DJ Horne and Frankie Collins in the guard positions playing heavy minutes. Despite his limited role Nunez did manage to lead the team in 3PT Percentage and start 2 games on the year.
vs Michigan (11/17): 15 PTS | 1 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 6 – 10 FG | 3 – 5 3PT FG
vs Creighton (12/12): 10 PTS | 1 REB | 4 – 7 FG | 2 – 2 3PT FG
In his one year at Arizona State, Nunez averaged 4.5 PPG, 1.1 RPG, 0.9 AST, and 0.7 STLs in 16.3 minutes per contest.
After the season ended, Nunez entered the transfer portal. Ole Miss and Notre Dame were both heavily involved with him. Chris Beard and Micah Shrewsberry both were able to get Nunez to visit their respective campuses but Nunez would pledge to Ole Miss in a social media post saying “2 steppin to the Sip”.
Nunez was the second transfer to announce his commitment to Ole Miss this past offseason.
The Breakdown
First thing that popped on his player profile was his effectiveness shooting the ball. Nunez possessed a staggering 79.4 true shooting percentage on spot-up no dribble jumpers last season. These shots are normally more in ideal positions but to add context to this figure, elite TS%s are normally any number >60%. Overall Nunez ranked in the 92nd percentile on spot-up possessions.
Turn on the film and you can see what is the second purest jump shot on this Ole Miss roster. He may not get the credit Murrell does, but it wouldn’t shock me if he led this team in 3-PT shooting percentage. On the year, he shot the three at a 37.7% rate and knocked down 81.8% of his FT attempts. Has a wider base on his shot, but knows to get his feet square and has a smooth release. Nunez xcels at knowing where to re-locate and where to sink to, setting up easier passing looks.
Nunez also excelled off the dribble where he ranked in the 86th percentile on dribble jumpers. Typically he would like to shoot these after driving to the right. The last shooting point I want to bring up is his touch. Nineteen of his 107 FG attempts on the year were floaters/runners and on film, he has shown incredible touch while playing with a quicker pace. He typically attempted floaters attacking to the left, and you could see him try one from free throw line range.
It’s likely that he won’t be able to get closer to the basket on a lot of attempts. Similar to Murray, he is really more effective in the mid-range and on the perimeter. Ole Miss should be able to play like this with the sealing ability of Jamarion Sharp and back to the basket style of Rashaud Marshall. It was mentioned earlier that he took 19 runners at Arizona State last season but that is compared to 24 layups.
I was impressed with Nunez’ handles, and despite a thinner frame he really excels at using his body to shield defenders from getting to the ball. The only issue here is that he tends to get pushed farther back beyond the line. Nunez is listed at 6’2 and 170 lbs.
When he navigates around screens, he really looks to get that defender on his back and make a play off of that. He could use a bit more training at making the right reads out of these situations, and setting up angles.
Nunez is a solid threat in the passing game as well. The impressive part is how he delivers passes with varying levels of touch and velocity. His passes normally go right into the shooting pocket of his teammates. He is capable of live dribble passes mostly with his left. One weakness here or at least something to note is that he made a lot of passes above defenders while trying to jump above defenders, instead of looking for ways to get around. A full offseason and new teachings will make it interesting to see the adjustments on this.
The tape on the defensive end was impressive. Nunez is a really active defender who is consistently engaged. He has very active hands and has a tenacity about him on the ball. This could be the part of his game that really keeps him on the floor as a guy you like to have on that end. Like most young players, there is some growth on some smaller things but similar to TJ Caldwell, it will be interesting to see how the game slows down for him.
Overall, Nunez will have to compete alongside Jaylen Murray, TJ Caldwell, and Robert Cowherd for more minutes on this Ole Miss team. The Rebels are a little bit deeper at the guard position. At this moment, the best role for him would to be an energy guard off the bench who can really bring a spark. At time,s it felt like he wanted to play faster at Arizona State but didn’t. I would love to see Ole Miss give him the opportunity to play at a higher gear and work with him to change tempos. Adding him into the lineup gives another shooting option who can handle the point, score off the dribble, off the catch and could be a player who can swing or add some momentum.
Coach Beard on Austin Nunez:
Earlier in an exclusive interview with coach Chris Beard, I asked him to describe each player in a few short words. Here’s what he said regarding Austin Nunez: “Talented, Skilled, Point Guard IQ.”
Next Up:
Ole Miss officially opens the 2023-24 season on November 6 as the Rebels welcome in Alabama State to the SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network +.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
TJ Oxley
TJ Oxley is the Vice President of Operations and the Director of Community Relations for The Rebel Walk. He is also the Director of Basketball Content and Senior Basketball Writer. He has over five years of experience providing in-depth analysis of college basketball through multiple platforms. A former MBA graduate of Ole Miss, TJ started with The Rebel Walk in 2019.
