Ty Jerome draws praise from Booker, Williams at Suns training camp

On draft night, it seemed to me that Ty Jerome had fallen into a good situation with the Phoenix Suns taking him late in the first round.

Then the Suns signed free-agent point guard Ricky Rubio, committing three years and $51 million to the former Utah Jazz starter, who averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 assists per game in 2018-2019.

Meaning there is Rubio to contend with, in addition to incumbent Suns point guard Tyler Johnson, a five-year pro who averaged 10.9 points and 2.9 assists in the Valley of the Sun last season.

Had me worried that Jerome might find himself buried on the bench.

The early word out of Suns training camp has been good for Jerome.

Devin Booker, the Phoenix shooting guard who led the team in scoring (26.6 points per game) in 2018-2019, had this to say when asked by reporters earlier this week which teammate had stood out to him the most in the summer and to this point in training camp:

“I’d say Ty Jerome,” Booker said. “I kind of knew what to expect from watching him at the NCAA Tournament. It was the first time I had ever seen him play. He can do a little bit of everything; pass, dribble shoot. A high-IQ guy. He knows how to play the game. He knows how to make reads.”

And then there was this from Suns head coach Monty Williams:

“Ty’s picking up where he left off at Virginia,” Williams said. “A surprise to you guys, but not to me. That’s who he is as a leader.”

UVA fans know this about Jerome, who took the team leadership mantle over from London Perrantes after the 2016-2017 season, and the vocal fire behind the ‘Hoos team that won the 2019 national title a year after the heartbreaking first-round loss as a #1 seed to #16 seed UMBC.

Not surprisingly, then, Jerome is not shying away from stepping up and taking on a leader-type mantle even as a rookie in camp.

“You’ve got to know where everyone is supposed to be and you can’t be afraid to tell someone, ‘You’re supposed to be here. You’re supposed to be there,” Jerome said. “If you want to win, you have to get over that and you can’t be afraid.”

Story by Chris Graham