This Kansas bench guard provides ‘instant offense.’ He’s becoming a fan favorite
Kansas guard David “Diggy” Coit has quickly become a fan favorite in Lawrence.
Despite often being the shortest player on the court, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior plays with reckless abandon. He takes deep 3-pointers, dives on the floor for loose balls and constantly zips around the court with seemingly endless energy.
He finished with 15 points off the bench in KU’s blowout win vs. Oklahoma State on Saturday. Coit shot 5-for-9 (55%) on 3-pointers.
“I hope he never misses,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “But no, (I’m) looking for instant offense. That’s what he is. And he hasn’t shot it consistently well, but he’s capable of doing what he did today and that really helped us.”
For the season, Coit is shooting 37.3% from deep. He has shot 13-of-26 (50%) on 3-pointers in his last five games.
His play was instrumental against the Cowboys. Midway through the first half, Coit hit three 3-pointers in about two minutes to help the Jayhawks widen their lead.
Those shots were the catalyst for KU ending the first half on a 21-2 run.
“Diggy really was probably the most important player of the first half, because the score was 12-12 when he came in,” Self said. “He made those three shots to give us a little bit of separation.”
Coit provides something the Jayhawks desperately need: another shooter who can help space the floor.
Before the game, KU ranked No. 171 (33.9%) in 3-point percentage. After their eruption against OSU, the Jayhawks now rank No. 129 (34.6%) in that stat.
The percentage noticeably rose because KU hit 14 3-pointers overall, including five by Coit.
Self doesn’t expect that to continue, as Kansas typically attempts about 21 3-pointers per game.
“Probably not. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to, but in order to make 14 3s, you probably need to shoot 30-35,” Self said. “If the situation calls for that, then great. But there were a lot of broken floor situations today because of the way OSU guarded (and pressured).
“... I thought OSU actually played us smart. They forced us to do some things that we haven’t been doing well, and today we did them well.”
Still, Self hopes the Jayhawks “come close to making double-figure 3s a game.”
Coit, Ryan Griffen, and Zeke Mayo will play a big part in making that happen. The trio combined for 26 3-point attempts against OSU.
“The main thing is us actually shooting,” Coit said. “I feel like a lot of times we come off the bench or start or whatever — we pass up a lot of shots. That’s been the main thing. … We’ve got to get our shots up and give our team the best chance to score.
“I think on me and Rylo, especially, we haven’t done that consistently. So it was just us believing in ourselves — giving ourselves the opportunity to make shots. You can’t make a shot if you don’t take it.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2025 at 6:30 AM.
