Friar Basketball

“20 in 60″: #11 Expectations for Kadeem Batts

Batts

Looking forward to the 2012-13 season, one of the biggest hurdles facing head coach Ed Cooley is the extremely thin front court that he has at his disposal. With the departures of both Bilal Dixon (Transfered to Towson St.) and Ron Giplaye (Transfered to East Tennessee St.) Cooley is left with Kadeem Batts, Lee Goldsbrough, Brice Kofane and Arizona transfer Sidiki Johnson. Adding to the front court complications, Sidiki Johnson will not be available until the second semester due to the NCAA rule forcing transfers to sit out a full year. With this as it stands, who does Cooley look to lean on? Insert Kadeem Batts.

With this season on the horizon, Batts enters his second full season as a Friar. Playing in 32 games as a freshman under then head coach Keno Davis, Batts averaged just over 6 points and 4 rebounds a game. Last season, Batts was subject to a team suspension handed down by Ed Cooley resulting from a failure to meet the obligations of a student-athlete. Consequently, Batts sat out 11 regular season games and didn’t see action until the December 20th matchup against the University of New Hampshire. In his first game back in the Friar lineup, Batts was given 18 minutes on the floor where he compiled 9 points and 6 rebounds on 4 of 7 shooting from the field and 1 of 4 from the charity stripe.

Earlier this year, when FriarBasketball.com caught up with Ed Cooley, he referenced the Batts suspension and discussed how he felt it affected his play for the remaining games of the season. “With the new coaching change, and having to sit out that many games, it hurt him tremendously”, Cooley said. Batts finished his sophomore campaign averaging less points and rebounds than he did during his first year at PC, falling from 7.1 to 6.2 points per game and 5.8 to 4.2 rebounds per game. Granted Batts saw less of the floor during his second year, in terms of minutes per game (21.7 freshman year and 19.7 sophomore year), Friar fans were left wondering how much progress he had made during the off season after seeing his somewhat disappointing sophomore season.

As we approach the year, it is unquestioned how much Cooley will be looking to Batts to take that step up and solidify himself as a reliable big man. As mentioned earlier, the supporting cast behind Batts is extremely thin with unproven players like Lee Goldsbrough and Brice Kofane. In the January 10th dismantling of then ranked 15 Louisville, Batts recorded a season high 27 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Of those 10 boards, 5 came on the offensive end and he was nearly perfect from the line, finishing the night 9 of 10. Perhaps, even more impressive was his shooting efficiency from the field, as he ended the game 9 for 13. Certainly Friar fans aren’t expecting this type of performance out of Batts night in and night out, however this gives us hope. If Batts can model his effort from that game and build on the types of things that he was able to do against Louisville, there is promise for this year.

Over/Under for 2012-13

Points per game – 8

  • Belhumeur – Over
  • Farrahar – Over (with Coleman gone and a lack of depth early, points will have to come from somewhere)
  • Leighton – Over

Belhumeur Analysis – A jump in minutes is expected with the absence of Dixon, Giplaye and Johnson. As a result, expectations are heightened for Batts and scoring over 8 points a game shouldn’t be a stretch. In 21 games played last season, Batts put up 8 points or more in 7 games. In the three games where he played 26 minutes or more, Batts reached the 13, 14, and 27 point mark.

Rebounds per game – 8

  • Belhumeur – Under
  • Farrahar – Under
  • Leighton – Over

Belhumeur Analysis – In his 53 games in a Friar uniform Batts has recorded 8 or more rebounds in a game just 11 times. It is the hope that with increased minutes, increased production will follow, however history says otherwise.

Double Doubles – 3

  • Belhumeur – Over
  • Farrahar – Over
  • Leighton – Over

Belhumeur Analysis – Through two seasons, Batts has put together 3 double doubles, while coming a rebound or two shy in several others. This feat is contingent on whether Batts can come close to performing on the level that he did against Louisville but again, with increased minutes, he should be able to accomplish 3 or more double double games this season.

Email Craig Belhumeur at craig.belhumeur@friarbasketball.com

 

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