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Farad Cobb: An Appreciation

In just two years, he helped to influence Cincinnati's defense, proving to be the founding father of an increased comfort level with the 3-point shot.

By Phil Neuffer
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David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Career Numbers

  • 9.6 points, 15.1 per 40 minutes
  • 1.5 assists, 2.3 per 40 minutes
  • 1.2 steals, 1.8 per 40 minutes
  • .394/.366/.808 shooting splits
From Florida to Chattanooga, Tennesseee back to Florida and then to Cincinnati, Farad Cobb's college basketball journey spanned a few more miles than the average. After netting 5.7 points per game as a freshman at Tennesseee-Chattanooga, he went on to be a scoring force for Northwest Florida State College. That got the attention of Mick Cronin and his staff and Cobb made his way to the Queen City to finish out his time at the collegiate level.

The two years Cobb spent with the Bearcats has been marked by one thing in particular: 3-point shooting. No Cincinnati player took more threes (347 combined) or made more (127 combined) than Cobb did during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. He broke the .600-level in 3-point attempt rate as a senior and finished with impressive career percentages in true shooting (.535) and effective shooting (.514). His steady stroke spawned an offensive revolution at Cincinnati. In 2014-15, the Bearcats ranked 293rd in the country in 3-pointers attempted (507). They rose up almost 200 spots to 102nd in 2015-16 (725). In addition, it went from a team that barely sniffed the mid 60s in terms of scoring, to a squad that averaged a healthy 73.3 points per game.

As the team's top sniper, Cobb also was one of its best scorers, averaging 10.7 points per game as a senior, which trailed only Troy Caupain (13 PPG). Cobb managed to work himself into the starting rotation in all 31 games he played as a senior, after making only nine starts during his junior campaign. He only posted a PER of 15.1 during the heavy workload of his senior season, but he ranked 10th in the AAC in offensive plus-minus (4.4) and he was the leader in offensive rating (115.0) among UC's backcourt contributors.

Cobb let his frequent backcourt partner (Caupain) handle the bulk of the playmaking, never really becoming much of a distributor, but he still managed to be consistent in that area, having an eye for when to give up his shot and make the extra pass at least occasionally. He had 97 assists in his career, with 49 as a junior and 48 as a senior. He also averaged 2.2 rebounds per game during his career, which isn't too bad considering he was rarely anywhere near the paint.

Now that we've gone 400 words without talking about, defense should probably come into play. Even if Cobb's largest contribution was helping to transform Cincinnati from an offensive black hole to a competent-ish group, he still had to play the team's patented breakneck style on defense. To that end, he was good enough, if not spectacular. He posted a defensive rating just under 100 (99.6) as a senior and a 97.8 figure for his career with UC. His hands were never too far from a passing lane either, as he managed to accumulate 75 steals in two years (1.2 SPG).

The Best of the Best

Wednesday November 19, 2014 vs. Morehead State

In just his second game in a Bearcat uniform, Cobb put on a lights-out effort, churning out 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including a 6-of-9 effort from beyond the arc.

Wednesday March 4, 2015 at Tulsa

There must have been something about Wednesday's for Cobb, who nearly matched his Morehead State effort by throwing up 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting (4-of-7 from deep) in a 56-47 win. That means he accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Bearcats' offense.

Thursday March 19, 2015 vs. Purdue

In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Cobb played a season-high 36 minutes, piling up 14 points on 5-of-11 from the floor (2-of-6 from 3-point range). Even better news, this effort came during another win.

Wednesday November 18, 2015 at Bowling Green

Nearly one year to the day after he scorched Morehead State, Cobb did it again, splashing six 3-pointers on his way to a 20-point night. He would match that point total four days later in a 99-50 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, marking the second of what would turn out to be four 20-point games for him during his senior season.

Saturday January 2, 2016 vs. Tulsa

Cobb sure liked to shoot against the Golden Hurricane. He dropped five 3-pointers on Tulsa's head and wound up with a season-high 21 points in one of the easier conference victories of the season.

Thursday January 7, 2016 at SMU

This should have been a win and Cobb should have been one of the heroes. He scored 18 points, all from 3-point range and also kept the pressure on SMU's backcourt by collecting four steals.

Friday March 11, 2016 vs. UConn

Just about every Bearcat deserves credit for putting everything they had into this one. Cobb finished with 14 points and a season-high six rebounds while playing 51 minutes.

Friday March 18, 2016 vs. Saint Joseph's

Cobb finished off his career in heartbreak, but he played hard for 34 minutes and made four 3-pointers, including a key one the final minutes, to finish with 12 points.

A Final Goodbye

Finding a replacement for Cobb may be harder than finding one for any of the other departing seniors. For example, Kyle Washington will help fill the Octavius Ellis role. However, there is no 3-point shooter like Cobb waiting in the wings. No other player on the team hit more than 33.3 percent from long distance last season (aside from Gary Clark, who went 13-of-25 and isn't going to suddenly become a spot-up shooter). Kevin Johnson stands out as the most likely candidate, but he made just 30.8 percent of his triples last season. Even if its takes time, Cobb helped get UC on the 3-point train so expect it to remain a bigger piece of the offense.

While Cronin tries to work out the details, Cobb will hopefully be working on ripping nets at the pro level. Wherever it is, he should know all of Cincinnati is behind him.

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