Kansas basketball: Contrasting David McCormack and Udoka Azubuike

With the graduation of All-American Udoka Azubuike, the role of Kansas basketball’s starting center will fall to junior David McCormack.

Next season’s Kansas basketball team will look significantly different given the graduation of Udoka Azubuike and the departure of Devon Dotson. While Dotson’s replacement isn’t certain, Azubuike’s successor is pretty obvious. David McCormack should be ready to step into the spotlight, especially since he’s done it before.

During his freshman season, McCormack stepped in and started 13 games for the Jayhawks, partially due to the fact that Azubuike was injured early in the season. When Azubuike returned last season, McCormack started another 18 games for the Jayhawks in addition to providing valuable minutes off of the bench.

Let’s compare Udoka Azubuike and David McCormack to one another (all stats from 2019-20 season):

Azubuike

• 7′ 0″, 270 lbs
• 27.7 minutes per game
• 13.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 2.5 turnovers per game
• Free throw percentage: 44.1 percent

McCormack

• 6′ 10″, 265 lbs
• 14.7 minutes per game
• 6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.4 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers per game
• Free throw percentage: 81.3 percent

Obviously, one of the starkest differences between the two is their difference in free throw percentage. While Azubuike absolutely dominated in the low post, he was a liability at the free throw line. McCormack, on the other hand, knocked down 39 out of 48 free throws last season, so his high percentage wasn’t a fluke.

To put McCormack’s free throw percentage into perspective, Azubuike attempted 143 free throws last season making 63 of them. Had McCormack got those 143 attempts, he would have made about 116 of them, which is a difference of 53 points.

Another area where the two differ greatly is in their respective shot charts.

We’ve already talked about Azubuike’s dominance in the low post, so there wasn’t really any reason for him to expand his range in college. While McCormack is certainly skilled down on the block, he’s also got a mid-range jumper in his arsenal.

McCormack seemed to have the green light to let his jumper fly whenever he felt like it, so head coach Bill Self must trust him to knock it down.

McCormack should be an adequate replacement for Azubuike, and it’s exciting to think about what McCormack will be able to do with a lot more minutes. He’s definitely got the potential to be an All-Big 12 player, and maybe even an All-American like Azubuiie before him.