Coit's shooting performance was outstanding, but his other skills were also impressive

Nick Krug

Kansas guard David Coit (8) pressures Washburn guard Jake Bachelor (14) during the second half of an exhibition game Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at Allen Fieldhouse.

David Coit celebrated before his teammate's shot even went into the goal.

Coit had just played a no-look pass to Zeke Mayo in the corner and was clearly confident that his fellow transfer would make it. His confidence proved well-founded when Mayo hit the second of two consecutive 3-pointers to give Kansas a 63-28 lead in the second half of Tuesday's exhibition victory over Washburn.

“It's the first team I've ever played for where every time they shot I felt like it was going in,” Coit said after the game. “And I knew what the flow of the game was. Before that he only hit one and I thought, 'Okay, he saw one go in, it's over.' I feel good about that.'”

That assist on a pass from AJ Storr was far from the flashiest play Coit made that night. The Northern Illinois transfer, a late addition in mid-August, came out on top against Mayo, shooting the ball repeatedly without hesitation from the start of the game and finishing with a team-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-10 from distance – just four days after going scoreless in 24 minutes against Arkansas.

“When I watch film, I like all of my shots, I liked how they felt,” he said of the Arkansas game. “The fact that they didn’t go in I think made me feel good – getting a game like that out of the way.”

The senior, who began his career at Atlantic Cape Community College, certainly endeared himself to the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.

“I went to Northern Illinois, so we never had that kind of audience or fan base, so definitely a blessing,” Coit said. “It was definitely fun out there.”

But as much attention as Coit will undoubtedly receive for his shooting and carefree, high-energy style of play after the Washburn game, that wasn't even the aspect of his performance that he thought worked well – when he spoke to reporters after the game He focused more on his movement without the ball and his ability to disrupt the opposing offense – and it wasn't what caught his coach's attention either. In fact, plays like Mayo's assist might have been more in line with KU coach Bill Self's ideas.

“I thought what he did best tonight was put pressure on the ball and really give himself up on offense, and the ball didn’t hang,” Self said. “He’s starting to figure it out.”

Coit emphasized that the quality of players around him allows him to be comfortable in any type of role. The guard, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, had three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

“Thank you to the team, they give me that confidence, tell me 'let it go'. Shoot the ball, defend hard, play hard and we will live with the result, whatever it is,” Coit said. “I feel so safe when I play with them. These are the best players I have ever played with in my life. So it's definitely a relief for me. I know I could just jump in and play my part.”

It's not clear exactly what role he will play when the season begins on Monday. Mayo didn't start, Self said, because Self couldn't get him to shoot the ball in practice. (Mayo ended up scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting.) That's what opened the door for Coit in the first place. Fellow transfer Shakeel Moore is also close to returning from injury, although there may not be as much overlap between Coit's role and Moore's role as initially thought; Self said they were “polar opposites” and Moore was more of a point guard, with Coit likely passing the ball away.

Coit said Tuesday that he thinks players coming off the bench have an advantage because they can familiarize themselves with the flow of the game.

But he added: “We have such a great team that it really doesn't matter who is in the starting line-up or who comes off the bench.”

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Written by Henry Greenstein

Henry is a sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com and serves as a KU beat writer while managing daily sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (BA, Linguistics) and Arizona State University (MA, Sports Journalism). Despite being from Los Angeles, he's often been told that he doesn't give off “California vibes,” whatever that means.

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