Illinois Basketball: How Kylan Boswell Can Become an Elite Point Guard

Illinois basketball will finally have a true point guard at the helm. Though Trent Frazier did his best as a combo-scoring guard, Andre Curbelo was probably the last true “floor general” who played for Illinois basketball. Additionally, let’s not mention the amount of point guards that John Groce missed out on. Regardless, Kylan Boswell and Kasparas Jakucionis are two guys who are likely to initiate offense in the half-court setting. Jakucionis has built up significant buzz given recent highlight videos, however, Kylan Boswell will have a massive role for Illinois Basketball.

Boswell is an upperclassman with two full years of college basketball experience. Despite his age, Boswell is the one of the few proven players on this roster who has contributed to winning at the high major level. With that being said, Boswell needs to do a few things to his game so that he can take that next step as the Floor general of the future.

Attack the Rim.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Boswell attempted 316 total field goals during his sophomore year at Arizona. Out of those 316 attempts, 174 were from the 3-point line. That means that 55 percent of Kylan Boswell’s attempts were three-point shots. Though he did shoot it at an efficient rate (37.9 percent), Boswell is too physically stout to simply be a jump shooter. On top of that, Kylan only shot 39 total free throws during the entire 2023 to 2024 season. For reference, Ty Rodgers shot a total of 65 free throws and Coleman Hawkins shot 96 free throws. 

With the changes that Boswell has made to his body, expect the junior guard to get downhill more often to compliment his already solid jump shot.

Increase the Assist Rate.

Boswell is a point guard who has exceptional vision. However, his assist rate was only 21.0 percent at Arizona. Though this is likely more of a factor of how he was used at Arizona, that number has to increase. For reference, Andre Curbelo had a 34.0 percent assist rate during his freshman year at Illinois. This number will certainly increase for Kylan as Illinois will undoubtedly use him as a primary ball-handler as opposed to a catch-and-shoot guard.

If Kylan Boswell can get downhill and increase his assist rate with the ball in his hands, look for the Champaign native to become one of the elite guards in the Big Ten.

Thank you for reading Armchair Illini. For more Illinois Athletics and Big Ten content from Armchair Illini, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.  For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email Alex Kyi at [email protected].