Friar Basketball

“20 in 60”: #13 Year of Opportunity for Kofane

Kofane

Brice Kofane has an opportunity this season.  No, he isn’t as skilled as LaDontae Henton, nor does he have the girth of Kadeem Batts or Sidiki Johnson, but the springy Kofane is the only interior player on the 2012-13 Providence roster who has the potential to be a rim protector.

Kofane showed flashes of it a season ago, most notably when he blocked seven shots in a mere 19 minutes against Boston College in early December.  Unfortunately for Providence, those flashes turned more flicker once the Big East season came around, as Kofane struggled to find consistency during conference play, wracking up three DNP-CDs in a four game span in February.

From a physicality and offensive skill set perspective, it wasn’t surprising Kofane’s production dipped a bit once the more bruising Big East front-courts came to Friartown.  He was listed at 205 pounds last season, with an offensive game that needed development, yet from a sheer athletic standpoint he provides something that the rest of the front-court lacks.

Since Herb Hill graduated in 2007, the Friars’ leading shot blockers prior to last season were a pair of grounded power forwards in Geoff McDermott and Bilal Dixon (McDermott blocked only 36 shots in 2008, and then 39 in 2009, while Dixon led the team with 59 in 2010 and 45 in 2011).  With the exception of Jamine Peterson, who used his athleticism strictly on the offensive end, Providence has suffered from a lack of athleticism from the four and five positions over the past five seasons.

In 2011-12, Kofane led the Friars in blocked shots (42 total, 1.4 per game) despite being benched for those three contests and playing only 15 minutes per game.  For his efforts on the defensive end, Kofane was named the team’s defensive player of the year by the coaching staff at the conclusion of the season.

Minutes should be available early for Kofane.  Gone is Bilal Dixon, who logged 15.7 minutes per game, leaving only Henton, Batts, Kofane and Lee Goldsbrough as returnees at the four and five spots in the first semester.  Henton figures to see huge minutes at power forward once again this year, and Johnson is slated to return in the second semester after transferring from Arizona, meaning the out of conference portion of the schedule will be a proving ground for Kofane.

He had some of his best moments in the out of conference schedule last year, with the aforementioned BC game, an eight point, 10 rebound effort at URI, and in grabbing 12 rebounds when Holy Cross visited the Dunk.

Perhaps his biggest impact in conference play came when he provided a huge lift in a road win over DePaul, with seven points, five rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes.

The numbers probably didn’t do him justice that afternoon, as he deflected three shots, but altered a number of others.  And that’s the key for Kofane in 2012-13.  He’s the only big man on this roster capable of consistently altering shots, not just blocking them, at the rim, and if he can hold up physically come Big East play he could provide a much-needed defensive presence – their first true shot blocker in six seasons.

 

Over/under for 2012-13

The numbers won’t tell the full story in regards to his potential impact, but the Friarbasketball staff took a stab at over/under predictions for Kofane’s upcoming season.

Minutes per game – 18:

  • Kevin Farrahar – over
  • Craig Leighton – over
  • Craig Belhumeur – over

Farrahar’s Analysis: It could quite possibly be a make or break season for Kofane in his third year on campus.  Minutes will be there for the taking, especially during the out of conference portion of the schedule.  The combination of his unique shot blocking ability and inconsistency from fellow returnees in the front court mean opportunity will be there.  A spike of three minutes per game would not be surprising here, and a big jump in minutes could be contingent on how far Batts and Kofane have come in the offseason.

Blocks per game – 2:

  • Farrahar – under
  • Leighton – over
  • Belhumeur – over (“averaged 1.4 last year and with increased minutes I can see him reaching 2”)

Farrahar’s Analysis: A spike in minutes combined with another year of maturity should lead to a jump in Kofane’s block numbers in 2012-13.  Still, only three players blocked two shots or more per game in the Big East last year (43 nationally) – two of them were first round picks and the other led Louisville with a monstrous 3.2 per game – a testament to how rare a great shot blocker is.  Kofane was quietly eighth in the league in blocks per game and with added confidence could become a threat to top two blocks per after a season in which he was at nearly 1.5.

Rebounds per game – 6:

  • Farrahar – under
  • Leighton – under
  • Belhumeur – over (“increased minutes could push him from 4.1 to over 6”)

Farrahar’s Analysis: I went under, even though he was at 4.1 in 15 minutes in his first year.  When given 15-20 minutes per game towards the tail end of the season he was a consistent 5-6 rebound per game player, and he had 19 in a two game span against URI and New Hampshire in December.  Kofane gets his hands on a lot of rebounds due to his athleticism, but had trouble gathering in traffic last season.  An improvement there and he could get to over six.

Double doubles – 3:

  • Farrahar – under
  • Leighton – under (“but he will have a blocks/rebounds double double”)
  • Belhumeur – under

Farrahar’s Analysis: Maybe setting the bar at three was high considering Kofane has yet to get a double double in his college career, but a double double or two early wouldn’t be surprising if given minutes.  He had a nine rebound game versus Georgetown and eight against Syracuse – both teams with size – so he’s a threat to get 10 boards on any given night, but he won’t be a primary option on offense, most likely, which could keep him below double figures in points on most nights. His career high in points is eight (at URI), but he did attempt 10 free throws in a late season game versus Georgetown.

 

Providence’s Leading Shot Blockers Since 2002:

2012: Kofane 42 blocks, 1.4 in 15 minutes

2011: Dixon 45

2010: Dixon 59

2009: McDermott 39

2008: McDermott 36

2007: Herb Hill 91 (2.9 per game)

2006: Hill 52

2005: Randall Hanke 62

2004: Marcus Douthit 92 (3.2 per game) 

2003: Douthit 96 (3.0 in only 21 minutes per game)

2002: Douthit 55

 

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

4 Comments

  1. Joe

    September 15, 2012 at 3:20 am

    Kofane’s biggest problem last year was his inexperience and lack of strength which led to constant fouling and an inability to stay on the floor to resemble anything close to a consistent contributor. IMO if he can find a way to stay on the floor he will rebound & block.

  2. Brian

    September 16, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Kofane is long and very athletic, but he’s also pretty thin and poor with the ball. It’s too bad his redshirt year didn’t happen under Cooley & co. I think you would’ve seen a tangible leap in skills and toughness.

    But he’s also really fast. Council didn’t trust him enough on the break last year. Hopefully he’s improved enough to at least get some easy buckets in transition.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login