The rich are getting richer. Last night it was announced that guard David Coit from Northern Illinois will be joining the already well-staffed Kansas Jayhawks. Coit averaged 20.8 points per game for the Huskies last season.
Signing Coit won’t make headlines or shake up expectations for Kansas on a team or individual level, but I think Coit could have a big impact on Kansas’ season.
The Jayhawks are well-stocked in the backcourt. In addition to Coit, AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo, Rylan Griffen and Shakeel Moore have also transferred to join incumbent point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. You might think a transfer from Northern Illinois would get lost in the crowd of great college basketball players, but Coit brings something that makes his teammates unique.
As a backup point guard, he will be a real catalyst, with a very different mindset than Harris. Dajuan Harris is a pass-first player through and through. Overall, he has attempted just 7.6 shots, with just 2.1 per game from beyond the three-point line. Coit, on the other hand, attempted 17 shots per game, with nearly 10 of them coming from beyond the arc.
Coit is a strong playmaker with a 20% assist rate, but his strength is scoring. He can score from distance and also get to the basket. As I mentioned, Coit is different than Harris. He is an 87th percentile isolation player. When he has the ball in his hands, good things happen.
Of course, you have to put Coit’s numbers in context. Northern Illinois was awful last season. Their 11-20 record was one of the worst in the MAC, and Coit nearly doubled the next player behind him in shot attempts because they needed him to score. The Huskies won only three games in which Coit scored fewer than 20 points.
He won’t come into the Big 12 and score 20 points, and he probably won’t even score in double figures. But he can provide significant points as a substitute.
With AJ Storr, Zeke Mayor and Rylan Griffen spending most of their time on the wing and without the ball, Kansas desperately needed a backup point guard to provide variety, and Bill Self delivered. David Coit fits perfectly on Kansas’ bench and could be the missing piece of the puzzle for another shot at the national championship.
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