By Ben LarrisonThe Daily Northwestern
As Northwestern began the Big Ten season, all eyes were on Kevin Coble – and for good reason.
The 6-foot-8 freshman had joined a team in serious need of a scoring threat and produced. He averaged 20.3 points over the three-game San Juan Shootout – earning a spot on the all-tournament team – and shot 69 percent from the field in the final four non-conference games to enter Big Ten play as the Wildcats’ top scoring threat.
Behind Coble, the Cats jumped out to a 10-3 record, their best start in the Carmody era, and with the success came newfound attention. Just months after starring at Scottsdale Christian Academy, Coble was thrust into the spotlight.
But like NU, Coble’s performance has cooled lately. The Phoenix native shot just 3 for 16, including an 0-for-3 outing at Penn State, in back-to-back losses to start the Big Ten season.
“He could easily be down on himself right now after those first two (Big Ten) games, but he’s not that type of kid,” senior Tim Doyle said. “He’s got a lot of talent, but he’s not going to get down on himself.”
Despite the dip in production, Coble and the rest of the Cats don’t seem worried about their leading scorer. Coble said he has talked to many of the older players about how to handle the attention, namely sophomore Craig Moore, who went through much of the same treatment last year while earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Coble’s teammates and coaches said the freshman seems to have taken the pressure well, and his focus has kept him from being too affected by the buzz.
“I think there’s a little bit of a sense of pressure, but a little bit of that is good, just like being a little nervous before a game can help,” Coble said.
While NU may not be concerned about Coble, the Cats know that they need more people to step up offensively. Moore, second on the team in scoring and leading NU with 36 3-pointers, struggled against Michigan, shooting just 1 of 7 from behind the arc.
NU coach Bill Carmody said he would like to get more points out of his bench players, particularly junior Jason Okrzesik and freshmen Jeremy Nash and Jeff Ryan, especially when Coble is having an off night.
“We have to concentrate on ourselves and where we’re going to get points from,” Carmody said. “That was the question at the beginning of the year, with the loss of Vedran (Vukusic) and Mohammed (Hachad). And we seemed to get a little bit from Kevin … But the last couple of games (Coble) hasn’t scored as much, so we have to figure out if we can get it from some other guys, too, because he isn’t always going to score.”
Reach Ben Larrison at [email protected].
