Michigan Basketball: Is Austin Davis a viable option at center?

Michigan basketball is back in action tonight against Illinois and we might get to see more minutes from a veteran center.

Throughout his career, Michigan basketball‘s starting center, Jon Teske, has struggled to avoid foul trouble which leads to him consistently trotting off the court and his replacement, Colin Castleton, filling the position. But what happens when Colin isn’t feeling it? Austin Davis happens.

And he happened to have a career game the last time he got on the court.

But the question remains, is he a viable option at center? The answer isn’t clear.

What is clear is that while Juwan Howard has already established himself as a big man’s guru, neither he nor former Michigan head coach Jon Beilein could figure out a way to coach Davis out of fouling.

Over his career, Austin has played 168 minutes and he’s been dealt 37 fouls. This year, he’s averaging 3.7 minutes and .7 fouls per game. Not good. For comparison, Teske has been on the floor for 246 minutes and has only accumulated 20 fouls.

To Davis’ credit, when he does get minutes, he’s accurate. Through four years, he’s shot 65% from the field and this year he’s averaging 70%, which can be attributed to the limited data or to Howard’s coaching ability, either way, he’s been accurate.

As a role player, however, Davis is expected to relieve those ahead of him and provide quality minutes. That becomes all the more important the higher you climb on the depth chart, and tonight, he might have climbed up right behind Teske due to the stitches Colin required after the blow to the face he received last week.

For Howard, the statistics tell him he has a center who leads the team in personal fouls and his backup – or backup’s backup if Colin’s face isn’t gushing blood –  who, if starting, would lead the team in personal fouls. The three big men have a big problem.

What to do against Illinois?

You really can’t go small. The Fighting Illini have a 7-foot true freshman center that has a team-leading 15.4 points-per-game and he’s certainly not afraid to mix it up in the paint no matter who’s guarding him. His name is Kofi Cockburn and he’s a scorer, a bruiser, and an attracter of fouls – both against him and his opponent.

Kofi is clearly going to be the center of attention for the Wolverine defense and with that comes foul trouble from the inside. Should Kofi be the one getting benched, there’s height behind him. Illinois has another young stud named Jermaine Hamlin, who’s also in his first year and stands at 6-foot-10.

Should Brad Underwood – the man who led Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State before taking the job in Champagne – place his two giants on the bench, the Wolverines might elect to place Brandon Johns Jr. at the five and let him aggressive control the boards as he did against Iowa. But if either of the Illinois true freshmen enters the game, the height disparity might prove costly for the Wolverines if not countered properly.

What’s the counterpunch?

Fouls happen and you have to be ready to remedy the situation. The combination of Johns Jr., Isaiah Livers, and Franz Wagner supplies the lineup with three guys at 6-foot-7-inches or taller and with proper technique, they can control the rebounds and hopefully mitigate the talented duo of underclassmen.

If those three don’t pan out, and Howard isn’t able to place any of his primary bigs on the court, Juwan still has a card to play and that card’s name is Jaron Faulds, the 6-foot-10-inch junior from Holt, Michigan. This is Jaron’s first year of eligibility following his transfer from Columbia, and while he hasn’t participated in anything other than the blowout over Houston Baptist, Fauld’s was one of the first guys off the bench at his former school and can act as a stopgap for Howard in case of emergency.

What’s the verdict?

Davis is a viable option in short minutes, although, he not meant to be left out there. He’s habitually committing fouls and can’t be trusted to stay on the court for more than ten minutes before he is disqualified.

But if you need a direct injection of a 250-pound man that plays overly aggressive defense and you’re not worried about putting the opponent in the bonus, Davis is your man.