When Kentan Facey told The Hartford Courant’s Dom Amore that his first season at UConn was “a dark place, “ and that he had to work hard to stay positive, it’s easy to forget that the sophomore forward was talking about a season that ended with his team winning a national championship. But before that magical run in the tournament, Facey was just another freshman not getting minutes on just another team.
Facey was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Huskies’ then-underwhelming 2013 recruiting class. Ranked #60 by Rivals, he was the only member of the class in the top 100, and he had scholarship offers from powerhouse programs like Florida, Louisville, and UCLA. Many people (including myself) had penciled him in as the starting center going into last season. Despite all that, he managed only 123 minutes all year with sixteen DNPs while watching fellow freshmen Terrence Samuel and Amida Brimah make headlines and big plays in the NCAA tournament.
For Facey, there was plenty of competition last season at his natural power forward spot from Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey. With both players – as well as fellow big man Tyler Olander – having since moved on to professional leagues, Facey appears to be this team’s X-factor, and indications are that he just might be able to come through.
On a rate basis, Facey was one of the most productive big men on the team last year. Extrapolating his performance out to 40 minutes per game, he averaged 11.1 points, 13.3 rebounds (best on the team), 2.3 blocks, and only 1 turnover. He shot 48% from the floor, 67% from the line and 67% from three-point range (both in admittedly small samples).
Of course, these numbers don’t tell the whole story. You see, in those 123 minutes, Facey also committed 30 fouls, which would be just a shade under 10/40 minutes, a staggering number that crippled his effectiveness on the court. Given that Brimah and Nolan also struggled with fouls, the overall lack of depth in the frontcourt is a concern. With only the lightly-recruited Rakim Lubin joining the frontcourt this year, Facey is going to be counted on for minutes. If he can cut that foul rate in half, he should be able to provide 20-25 minutes per game. With his rebounding prowess, that should be enough to make a serious impact on this season. If he can’t, UConn is likely to struggle up front again, inhibiting their ability to make much noise in the postseason.
