David Coit, KU basketball’s new transfer, dropped 56 points in a championship game

David Coit, the latest addition to the 2024-25 Kansas basketball roster, developed his reputation as a scorer his junior year at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

Listed on the NIU roster at 5-foot-11, 175-pounds, the Columbus, New Jersey native, who referred to himself as 5-foot-9 in an interview earlier in the week, averaged 20.8 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds a game last season, earning third-team all-MAC recognition for the Huskies (11-20).

A 40.7% shooter who hit 94 of 279 3s for 33.7%, Coit, the 24th-leading scorer in Div. I, went for a career-high 37 points in a win over Buffalo on March 8. He also had 35 points against Akron, 34 against DePaul and 32 against Western Michigan. He converted a career-high eight 3s versus DePaul and hit 6 of 7 3s versus Iowa.

It all added up to 16 games in which he scored 20 or more points along with four games in the 30s.

Coit — he entered the transfer portal on April 1, ultimately choosing KU on Friday over Villanova, Arkansas and Texas A&M — took his scoring to a new level this past week.

Playing two games for Sterns Trailer in the Jersey Shore Basketball League playoffs back home in Manasquan, New Jersey, Coit first scored 36 points in a 121-109 semifinal victory over the WCT Warriors. In Tuesday’s championship game, Coit reached local legend status by scoring 56 points in Sterns Trailer’s 114-90 victory over Sea View Jeep.

Coit, who goes by the nickname “Diggy,” surpassed the old title-game scoring record of 55 points previously set by Earl Foreman in 1974.

It appeared to be fate, considering the newest Jayhawk exploded for his 56 points in the 56th-annual Jersey Shore Basketball League title game.

“It’s a blessing to be here. I’m just appreciative I got to put a show on for the fans. That’s important to me. There’s a lot of kids are out here, lot of kids seeing that. Being able to show them love and passion for the game is important to me,” Coit said after the game.

Coit scored off many drives to the basket as well as fadeaway mid-range and 3-point jump shots.

“We have four guards and one big and all can shoot,” Coit said of the Sterns Trailer championship team. “For somebody like me who thrives on 1-on-1 action … growing up playing with friends, its all about 1-on-1. When we get to do that in a game, it’s over. That’s how we feel. If we get to play 1-on-1 in a game, I feel you are at our mercy.”

Coit said KU recruited him early on, then backed off, then contacted him recently about becoming KU’s 13th scholarship player and sixth player to be added through the portal joining guards AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Shakeel Moore, Zeke Mayo and Noah Shelby (walk-on).

“Being a 5-9 kid from the middle of nowhere New Jersey ... I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to play one more year. It’s a very good team. We’re very good players, so everything is going to have to be earned,” Coit said.

“The confidence and belief that they had in me to play my game and flourish, it’s something I want to be a part of. I don’t want anything given. That was main thing.”

Coit said he picked a school with “transparency and integrity. That was the main thing I’m trying to live by, just morals and standards. I wanted to play for a coach (Bill Self) that lives off of that as well. So the school I committed to (KU), they were kind of upfront from the get-go about me being able to play my game but also being able to compete. ... I’m not going there with them saying, ‘You are starting,’ or ‘You’ve got the ball.’”

Coit, who had a transfer waiver approved by the NCAA on July 18, averaged 30.6 points per game in 2021-22 at Atlantic Cape Community College, leading the nation in scoring at the NJCAA Division III level.

As a member of the high school recruiting class of 2020, Coit played his high school basketball at Scotland Campus in Columbus, New Jersey.

The question is: how much will Coit play this season for the Jayhawks?

A source told The Star the plan is for Coit to play, not redshirt, in 2024-25.

Thus he joins a perimeter group that includes Dajuan Harris and the five scholarship portal additions. Shelby will redshirt this season.

Jamari McDowell returns for his soph season, while highly regarded freshman wing Rakease Passmore joins the program, giving KU eight backcourt players, seven if McDowell redshirts. The frontcourt players are: Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, Flory Bidunga and Zach Clemence. Scholarship guard Elmarko Jackson is out for the season following summertime knee surgery.

It is obvious if the Jayhawks stay healthy this season, there will be plenty of depth with a bunch of players battling for minutes.

“They want me to stretch the floor, play-make, play on and off the ball and just be a combo guard,” Coit said in an interview with 247Sports.com. “I’ll be tasked with using my ability to score and shoot, but also play and make it easier for the guys around me. That was the point of emphasis in my recruitment. Playing with other great players is when I play my best. I enjoy scoring, but I also enjoy being unselfish and being able to make plays for others. That’s what I was looking for and that’s what they had to offer me.”

“This is already a next-level team. So with me, I add depth, swagger-ball and hunger. I bring a great mentality and I can help by being a great teammate, leader and solid person on and off the court.”