SDSU’s Shepard on summer, point and Sky

Winston Shepard may be San Diego State’s most polarizing player, a love-it-or-leave-it proposition among some fans, but there is no debate about this: He is always engaging and enlightening, willing and able to call it as he sees it.

Here are some tidbits from a short conversation Thursday:

--Instead of spending the summer in Houston sweating it out in a small gym attached to a church, the 6-foot-8 junior stayed at San Diego working out with his teammates and under the supervision of Aztecs coaches.

He focused on “mentally staying in attack mode” and his shot, both from the perimeter and free-throw line. “I’ve got to be able to knock them down,” said Shepard, who attempted 202 free throws last season, second most on the team, and made 63.4 percent. “I’ll have the ball more this season and I get to the line more than probably anyone else on the team, so why not make 80 percent?”

--He’ll play “anywhere the coaches put me,” but concedes he’s more effective on the wing as a shooting guard or small forward than at the point. Which begs the question: If Shepard isn’t the point guard, who’s the heir apparent to Xavier Thames?

Shepard didn’t hesitate. He pointed at freshman Kevin Zabo, who grew up in Canada to African parents and attended Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H. Zabo is the lowest rated of SDSU’s four incoming freshmen by the major recruiting services (three stars instead of four or five), but he also made limited appearances on the AAU circuit last spring and summer that might have elevated his stock.

“Listen,” Shepard said, “a lot of people don’t know how good he is. He’s a true point guard. That’s the best way I can describe him. He has the handles. He can shoot. He can command the team. He can play the pick and roll. And when you come from a prep school, you’re a little better prepared to make the transition to the college game. You’ve already been away from home, and you’re used to a high level of competition.”

--Every year, one player seems to make a big leap over the spring and summer. Jamaal Franklin has held that distinction. So have JJ O’Brien and Dwayne Polee.

This year’s candidate?

“Sky,” Shepard said of shot-blocking, 6-10 junior Skylar Spencer, an observation privately seconded by several others on the team. “I think he’s going to take a big jump. He’s improved so much over the summer. He was a monster finishing around the basket and making his free throws. I think it’s finally clicked in his mind that he wants to be a pro.”

(Interesting aside: Two years ago, an NBA scout from an Eastern Conference team attended an early season Aztecs practice. Asked who had the most pro potential, he identified two players – Thames and Spencer.)