Random Jayhawk Player Breakdown 2

Random Jayhawk Player Breakdown

For the off-season, periodically a random Kansas basketball player will be selected for a deeper statistical look. Since 1994, there have been 172 players who have played in at least one regular season game. The first random player selected was Darrell Arthur. This, the second installation, will feature the following randomly selected player…

Gethro Muscadin

This feature will be melancholy. Gethro passed away in 2022 following a 2021 car accident. He was taken to a hospital after the accident where he spent months being kept alive while apparently being unresponsive. Muscadin played in only 1 season as a Kansas Jayhawk.

2021 season

Gethro Muscadin was a 3/4 star recruit originally from Haiti who had spent time at Aspire Academy in Kentucky. He was 6’10 with a good athletic build and length. He came to the program for the 2020-21 season, expecting to be a longer-term project who could help the team with interior scoring, rebounding, and rim protection.

On the depth chart, Muscadin was behind David McCormack, Silvio De Sousa, and Mitch Lightfoot. Shortly before the beginning of the season, De Sousa left the team due to his off-court criminal charges. With only 2 true interior players remaining, there was some thought that Muscadin could get some playing time. This didn’t happen, as Kansas would end up playing a four guard/wing lineup around a single interior player (McCormack or Lightfoot).

Muscadin only scored 2 points during his 12 brief appearances wearing the Kansas Jayhawk jersey, which totaled 33 minutes. This lone basket was a dunk, and came late in the second half against Nebraska Omaha. It can be seen around the 15:25 mark of the following video:

In fact, the only shots, either on the floor or at the free throw line, that he took at Kansas were in this game. He played in 8 minutes and also had 4 rebounds. Muscadin did appear in both NCAA Tournament games, subbing in briefly during KU’s Round of 64 win against Eastern Washington and also grabbing a rebound in the late stages of KU’s Round of 32 blowout loss to USC.

Gethro’s advanced stats don’t add much given his limited playing time. Rebounding appeared to be his best attribute, particularly given his size and athleticism.

The next detail to consider is Muscadin’s value stats, which again are limited due to his scant court time.

Muscadin gave up value due to a limited offensive skill set, but his defense was quite acceptable. In total, a -0.49 points per game value score doesn’t look too bad. However, this is skewed due to limited minutes. If we take a per possession look, he was last among scholarship players that season at -9.68 points per 100 possessions. His WAR was -0.11, again constrained due to his limited number of minutes.

Post-Kansas career

Following the season, Muscadin transferred to New Mexico to play for the Lobos for 2021-22. He would play in 12 games, starting in 9, and score a career high of 18 against both Florida Atlantic and Montana St. His official and advanced stats from College Basketball Reference show improvements as he was able to find his way off the bench and onto the floor for a Mountain West Conference team in non-conference play against the 115^th best non-con schedule. It was here where he best showed his basketball potential.

Gethro transferred from Kansas during an era where this has become far more prevalent. It wasn’t out of spite or bitterness. In fact, he never lost his love of the Jayhawks or affiliation with the program. Hours before his fateful car crash on I335 south of Topeka, he was watching his former teammates defeat Nevada at Allen Fieldhouse.

This tragic loss of life can best be addressed by the sentiments of Bill Self, which this blog shares. We will leave with coach’s words from a November 1, 2022 tweet.

Gethro Muscadin passed away late last night. He had been unresponsive since the car accident last December. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gethro’s loved ones. So young. So sad. He will always be a teammate of ours. RIP.