KU freshman Tristan Enaruna steps up: ‘He made the biggest shot of the game’
It was starting to look as if Kansas might need to survive a fantastic finish from UNC Greensboro to win Friday’s nonconference basketball game against the mid-major Spartans at Allen Fieldhouse.
Instead, versatile KU freshman guard-forward Tristan Enaruna stepped up and hit a deep three-pointer in response to an 18-7 run that had sliced a 21-point Greensboro deficit with 9:29 remaining to 10 points at 3:51.
His three and an Ochai Agbaji bucket upped KU’s lead back to 15 points with 2:50 to play, the Jayhawks effectively eliminating any possible late-game Greensboro magic.
“Even though we were probably still going to win the game, he made the biggest shot of the game,” KU coach Bill Self said of Enaruna, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound native of the Netherlands, who has been KU’s most productive freshman through two games.
“They cut it to 10 with a couple minutes left, he sticks the three at the top. That showed me something right there. I thought he played well,” Self added after a 74-62 KU victory.
Enaruna finished with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting (1 of 2 from three) with five rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes.
He scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting (1 of 1 from three) with two rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes in KU’s season opening loss to Duke on Tuesday in New York. For the season, he’s averaged 7.0 points on 62.5% shooting with seven rebounds, two assists, three turnovers, three blocked shots and one steal.
“Tristan is so long at 6-8, with a wingspan of 7-2, 7-3. He can really slide and move,” Self said, adding “he may have the most upside” of any member of KU’s freshman class because of those physical tools.
It’s a freshman group that has lost guard Jalen Wilson, who suffered a broken ankle in Friday’s game and is expected to miss at least three months. Prior to the start of practice, KU lost frosh guard Issac McBride, who elected to transfer. Meanwhile, freshman guard Dajuan Harris is a redshirt this season for academic reasons.
Guard/forward Christian Braun, who played just 2 1/2 minutes on Friday, joins Enaruna as the only remaining freshman scholarship players in Self’s nine-man rotation.
“The thing about Tristan is his shot is streaky,” Self said. “He is so casual-acting. He is so smooth and plays so cool that sometimes it drives you nuts because you want him to play harder. The reality is he is playing hard. It’s his personality.
“If anybody remembers a guy who used to play here ... Archie was that way. He was so smooth,” Self added of small forward Archie Marshall, for played for KU from 1986-88. “I remember coach (Larry) Brown and he was, ‘Cmon Arch, cmon.’ It’s what I want to do with Tristan. He is doing it, he can improve on it a little bit. Archie was a fabulous player until he had a terrible run of luck (knee injury).”
Enaruna said he’s working on going hard at all times.
“It is a switch I have to turn on. It’s all automatic, doing things like going to the glass, diving for balls,” Enaruna said. “It is kind of the way I am personally,” he added of being low key. “Sometimes I make it look like that, even though I try hard. I think coach knows. He just wants me to play hard. That’s why he hammers on me.”
Indeed, Self said that Enaruna “played great,” on Friday. “He got a great and-one in the second half on an offensive rebound,” Self noted.
Enaruna appreciates the feedback from a demanding coach.
“He (Self) told me I played well,” Enaruna said. “He always tells me to go out there and not worry too much — go after the glass, be an all-around guy.”
KU sophomore point guard Devon Dotson said Enaruna is off to a great start as he adjusts to major college basketball.
“You see him at practice … his length,” Dotson exclaimed. “He can cause activity on the defensive end and go for loose balls. I’m not surprised (he’s doing well).”
KU will next meet Monmouth at 7 p.m. Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Recruiting notes
Javonte Brown-Ferguson, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound junior center from Thornlea Secondary School in Ontario, Canada, will announce his college choice at 7 p.m., Central time, Wednesday, he confirmed to The Star on Sunday in an instant message on Twitter. Brown-Ferguson, who has a final three of KU, UConn and Texas A&M, is planning on switching from the recruiting Class of 2021 to 2020. He is not listed in the rankings by Rivals.com because he does not play high school ball in the U.S. … Bryce Thompson, a a 6-4 senior combo guard from Booker T. Washington High in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will choose either KU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or North Carolina at 10 a.m., Tuesday, at his high school. He is the No. 19-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.com.
