OREM — Trying to guess the leading college basketball scorer in the state this season could take a while.
Picking one of BYU's trio of Lee Cummard, Trent Plaisted or Jonathan Tavernari? Not even close.
Johnnie Bryant and Luke Nevill lead the University of Utah, but getting colder.
Warming up with Geoff Payne from Southern Utah? Even Utah State's all-time leading scorer, Jaycee Carroll, falls a couple of points behind the top spot.
So, did you guess Utah Valley State junior sensation Ryan Toolson? In all honesty, he probably wouldn't be on most fans' lists.
If his last name sounds somewhat familiar, though, it should. His cousin, Andy Toolson, starred at BYU from 1987-90 and later spent two seasons playing with the Utah Jazz. And his uncle is another former BYU star you might've heard of before, a guy by the name of Danny Ainge.
But those who haven't seen the UVSC shooting guard in action are missing a show. Scoring 23.1 points per game thus far this season, he is jump shooting his way to the vast majority of his baskets.
"Ryan is having a sensational season," said UVSC coach Dick Hunsaker. "We have games to be played, but he's the most improved player on the team. His overall play and consistency have been, frankly, something to marvel at."
Not a slasher-type, Toolson feels more comfortable setting up shop from behind the 3-point line — 200 of his 358 shot attempts on the year have been taken from behind the arc.
And he's shooting as well as you'd expect a pure shooter to do — 48.3 percent overall — and not dropping far behind from behind the 3-point line with a 44 percent mark. At the free-throw line, Toolson is shooting 95.3 percent, which is just a tad behind his 97 percent effort (96-of-99) that led the nation last season.
Those numbers aren't too far off from his sophomore season, in which Toolson was the sixth man on a team with four senior starters. With all of the turnover from last year's team, Hunsaker considers Toolson's play a year ago in a different light than this season.
"Last year was a completely different set of circumstances of coming back from his mission and meshing with the team in hand," Hunsaker said. "There were a number of established guys we had on the team a year ago."
With a season full of solid play, and very few bad outings, Hunsaker knows that he has a unique player in Toolson.
"Ryan Toolson is special," Hunsaker said. "You just don't come across players that have his mentality. I think he has far exceeded what anybody felt — other than himself.
"When you're a scorer and shooter as Ryan is, his consistency is just really something that I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for," Hunsaker said.
As the new face of the team this year and next, Toolson's role with the Wolverines' team has changed significantly. And he's fine with that.
"Besides Richard Troyer, I think I have the most time with coach Hunsaker here at UVSC," Toolson said. "So I feel like I am doing exactly what I should be. Me and Richard should be stepping up and leading the team."
As the team's leading scorer, Toolson is the primary focus of UVSC's opponents. It hasn't stopped him one bit, despite lacking the varied outlet options he had last year.
"Defenses are loaded against him," Hunsaker said. "It's very difficult to get shooters shots. Everyone has a film or video room to spend hours on preparation. It's all geared to attack Ryan. He's handled all of those things and expanded his physical abilities as well as his mental patience."
Toolson's development is a bit quicker than some would have thought — especially since he left after his freshman season to serve an LDS mission in Guatemala.
But Toolson's 13.7 ppg average in his first year with the Wolverines — second-highest on the team — and 19 ppg in his senior year at Gilbert (Ariz.) High School should have put people on notice as to how well Toolson would do at the next level.
And Toolson doesn't shy away from an honest appraisal of himself. If that means he knows his strengths, so be it.
"I've played as well as I thought I should be at this point in time," Toolson said.
With the scoring machine chugging along nicely, Toolson's self-appraisal isn't all rosy, as he knows what he needs to work on to become a more complete player.
"Defensively, I still think I can pick it up," he said. "Obviously, everyone should think that. I think that I've let my teammates down in a few situations where I think I shouldn't have."
His transition from high school has been noticeable, especially in creating his own shots. Toolson doesn't rely on just taking a shot without doing any work in creating the opportunity.
"In high school. I was more of a catch-and-shoot," Toolson said. "Reggie Miller-type coming off of picks. Now I feel that my game has developed more into a dribbling game. If I don't have the shot coming off of a pick, I can take a few more dribbles without losing the ball to get a decent shot."
Even if he doesn't get results every time, Hunsaker's advice to Toolson has been to have a short memory.
"He just said you had a bad game and get over it," Toolson said of Hunsaker's reaction after a recent off night. "That's what a shooter's mentality has to be."
E-mail: jadkins@desnews.com