• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

PF/C Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
USAToday.com

8/11/06


CENTER
On top: Kevin Love, 6-9, Lake Oswego (Ore.) — Opinions range on Love, depending on whether one evaluates players based mostly on their college or their professional potential. To wit, Love is a massive big man who dominates the interior with a uniquely wide frame and an old-school, roughhouse disposition. He wears on his opponents physically and surprises them with his shooting range and passing ability facing the basket. His outlet passing is exquisite and may be the best of any young big man in over a decade. For Love to remain a dominant player five years from now, however, he'll have to overcome sluggish footspeed in the open court and average leaping ability. There also are the long-term questions of "ceiling" with him as compared to other frontcourt players in the class.

Five contenders:

DeAndre Jordan, 6-11, Christian Life (Humble, Texas)
Kosta Koufos, 6-11, GlenOak (Canton, Ohio)
Dallas Launderdale, 6-9, Solon (Ohio)
Anthony McClain, 6-11, National Christian Prep (Fort Washington, Md.)
Solomon Alabi, 7-0, Montverde Prep (Fla.)

Outlook: While no other center can touch Love in terms of accomplishment, Jordan actually may be a more enticing prospect for professional scouts. The lanky, slender big man grew two inches in the past year and still is growing into his sizeable body. His scoring tools and confidence expanded along with his height. Koufos is a face-up center who could cause all sorts of matchup problems. Alabi is very thin and the most raw of the bunch, but a few minutes watching him makes it clear why the long-armed big man is so highly esteemed by scouts and college coaches.
***
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
ABJ

Training regimen is working out

By Michael Beaven

Beacon Journal sportswriter

GREEN - It's a late October evening, and one of the nation's premier high school basketball players is working out in an indoor sand pit.
This sand pit isn't the ordinary one that's beside a track, just as this player isn't the ordinary athlete.
The sand pit measures 45 feet by 25 feet. The athlete measures 7 feet 2 inches and 255 pounds.
The facility is High Intensity Training Centers, and the basketball player is GlenOak senior Kosta Koufos, a center.
Koufos, an Ohio State recruit, is rehabilitating a broken bone in his right foot. Prior to the injury, he was averaging 24.6 points and 13.5 rebounds per game.
HIT Centers Executive Director Robert Hinton said his primary objective is to strengthen the muscles around Koufos' foot to prevent further injury.
``We put him in the sand because he has to use every muscle to stabilize himself,'' Hinton said. ``We improve athletic ability here. You can always get better.''
Koufos led the Golden Eagles to an 8-3 record before breaking the fifth metatarsal in his right foot at a practice in mid-January. With Koufos sidelined, GlenOak finished the season 17-6.
The injury, which is the same as the one sustained by Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, did not require surgery and healed naturally. Koufos said his foot is back to 100 percent and that HIT Centers has helped.
``HIT Center is a great place to train and Rob has been great to me,'' Koufos said. ``This is probably one of the best facilities I have trained in individually in terms of one-on-one (instruction). I had heard about this from many people. It has done wonders for me, and I have seen improvement.''
HIT Centers opened in December 2005. The 12,000-square-foot facility cost about $1 million, counting the equipment.
``You can't count (the number of exercises),'' Hinton said. ``With the amount of equipment we have, the technology, the resources and the combined years of knowledge that we have, you can never max out an athlete or max out a program.''
Hinton has been impressed by Koufos' desire to recover quickly and to continue to improve.
``He is super to work with,'' Hinton said. ``He has a lot of motivation.''
Koufos said his objective is ``to get my body to the next level. I want to prepare as much as possible for my senior year.''
GlenOak basketball coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said he fully supports Koufos' training with Hinton, a certified strength and conditioning specialist.
``That is something I mentioned to him in May,'' Greynolds said about getting a trainer. ```I thought that if he got a personal trainer it would be a great idea. I can see a big difference in how he moves. He is a little more fluid in his running and a little more mobile. His agility is a little better.''
Koufos has grown from a 6-foot-10, 200-pound freshman into a more imposing physical specimen who bench presses 245 pounds. He said he patterns his repertoire after Dirk Nowitzki and Amare Stoudemire
Koufos has been working out at HIT Centers for about an hour twice a week for five weeks. On this day, Koufos worked out for 30 minutes doing some weightlifting after playing basketball for 2 ? hours.
``After he broke his foot, he really got serious about weightlifting,'' Greynolds said. ``He was going nuts in the weight room. He is really getting confidence in his body and developing more of a base.''
Koufos said he chose Ohio State because of his comfort level with coach Thad Matta. Koufos also considered Louisville, North Carolina, Duke, Akron, Michigan and Maryland.
``I have always been close to friends and family,'' Koufos said. ``They will have the opportunity to come and watch me play, and I just felt comfortable there.''
Another reason for selecting OSU is because Matta assembled the No. 1 recruiting class for this season, with freshman center Greg Oden among the group.
Koufos said he is hopeful that Oden stays beyond this season. He said he dreams about the matchup problems the two 7-footers could create.
``If Greg Oden stays another year, it would be a great opportunity to play against him in practice every day,'' he said.
GlenOak will look to move to the top of the Federal League standings, which Canton McKinley has held the past two seasons. The Bulldogs also won back-to-back Division I state championships behind a group led by Raymar Morgan, a freshman forward at Michigan State.
``We have a real tough schedule, which will get us more prepared for the tournament,'' Koufos said. ``I feel we might have a shot at going to states. I feel we have a great chance to win the Federal League.''
Morgan and Koufos played together at summer All-American camps. Koufos also has played in pickup games that have included Cavaliers forward LeBron James, former University of Akron players Matt Futch and Rob Preston, and current Zips forward Romeo Travis.
Greynolds enters this season with talented players such as sophomore guard C.J. McCollum, senior guard Mark Quinn, freshman forward Storm Sanders, senior center D.J. Keehn and senior forward Dan Wagner to surround Koufos.
``I don't look at us as the favorites,'' Greynolds said. ``McKinley has proved themselves the last 75 years, and they are the winningest basketball program in the state. They have a new cast of players and new coaches, but everything goes through them. It always has and probably always will. Our hope is that it doesn't. We're knocking on the door.''
Hinton said he has worked with Koufos in several areas, including change of direction drills, strengthening his legs and hip flexers, lateral movement, acceleration on an angled treadmill and single leg explosion.
``We're working hard, but we are focused on one thing, and that is making sure that (injury) doesn't happen again,'' Hinton said. ``So we take that into consideration and we design a workout according to what he needs.''
Hinton said he is amazed at what Koufos can do with such a large frame.
``It's amazing to be that big and to be that athletic,'' Hinton said. ``And he still has a lot of potential because there still are things we do here that he has never done before and it only makes him better.''
Koufos realizes his size is unusual, especially because his late father, Alex, was 6 feet tall, his mother, Kathy, is 5 feet 8 inches, his older brother Vasili is 5 feet 8 inches, and his sister Maria is 5 feet 7 inches.
``I look at it as a blessing,'' Koufos said of his size.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Canton

Koufos signs OSU's letter
Thursday, November 9, 2006
By Joe Frollo Jr. Repository assistant sports editor

PLAIN TWP. Like other college basketball fans, Kosta Koufos is impressed by Ohio State's freshman class. National high school Player of the Year Greg Oden leads a group that many compare to Michigan's Fab Five of the early 1990s.
But Koufos thinks Ohio State's future doesn't rest with just the current crop of Buckeyes. The 7-foot-2 GlenOak senior signed a national letter of intent Wednesday with the full intention of making Columbus more than just a football town.
"Those guys can all play real well and will be strong," Koufos said. "Obviously with Greg, they fill out well at every position. But we are just as strong a class coming up. ... I think we are just as good."
Koufos joins Dallas Lauderdale, a 6-9 center from Solon; Jon Diebler, a 6-7 guard from Upper Sandusky; and Illinois product Evan Turner, a 6-6 combo guard-forward.
The linchpin, though, is Koufos, who is only 17 and still growing into his 7-2, 255-pound frame. While Koufos may have the body of a center, he can put the ball on the floor and shoot from the perimeter, creating a matchup nightmare for opposing coaches.
"Kosta is (7-2) with the shooting, passing and ball-handling skills of a guard," Ohio State Head Coach Thad Matta said at a Columbus press conference. "He is unique."
Koufos averaged 24.0 points and 11.8 rebounds in 11 games last year before breaking a bone in his right foot and missing the rest of the season. He came back strong in the summer and fall, averaging 21 points during the LeBron James Classic in May.
Koufos said his game continues to develop, and he wants to get better as a rebounder and shooter. He also needs to improve his mental approach to where he is consistent every night.
"The biggest thing is when we play teams not at our level, I can't play down to that level," said Koufos, who picked Ohio State over Maryland, Louisville, North Carolina, Duke and others. "I've got to go into every game thinking I can dominate."
GlenOak head coach Jack Greynolds Jr. said Koufos has the ability to do whatever he puts his mind to on the basketball court. Offensively, Koufos has shown unlimited ability. Now, he needs to match that intensity on the other end.
"I'd like to see him rebound more, rebound harder," Greynolds said. "Defensively, I'd like to see him shut people down below their averages. He has the skill and technique to do that."
This year, that means helping GlenOak break two-time state champion McKinley's stranglehold on the Federal League and Canton Division I district tournament.
Next year, it means bringing his best every day in practice against current Buckeye freshmen Mike Conley, David Lighty, Daequan Cook and possibly Oden -?if the 7-0 center doesn't jump to the NBA.
"Greg is going to decide what's best for him, but I hope he's there because going against him every day would be the best competition there is," Koufos said.
As for beyond college, Koufos said "it hasn't even crossed my mind." After dealing with all the hype that comes with signing day, he is simply looking forward to his final year of high school basketball.
"I want to get this out of the way, get some good days at practice, get ready for the season and go win a state championship," Koufos said. "Let's see what develops after that."
You can reach Repository Assistant Sports Editor Joe Frollo Jr. at (330) 580-8564 or e-mail: [email protected]
 
Upvote 0
Canton

BEING BIG
Monday, November 27, 2006
By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

So, you think being a 7-footer in high school
is all fun and scholarships.
Think again.
Kenny Frease
and Kosta Koufos have found that being tall at this age is a tall order.

They don?t walk through malls. They don?t walk through halls. They don?t walk through the neighborhood. Seven-footers with star power don?t walk through anything.
It seems the world gravitates toward them. Just about every eye focuses on them. Kosta Koufos and Kenny Frease have been noticed since birth.
Koufos, a senior at GlenOak High School, goes 7-foot-1, 255 pounds. Frease, a junior at Perry, is a carpet pad under 7-foot, 265 pounds. Seven-footers aren?t just fodder.
They?re targets.
?The last time I went to the mall, I walked in alone to meet some friends, and I got mooned by a bus full of Hoover kids and group of GlenOak kids flicked me off. That was on my way inside the mall,? Frease said. ?Last year at the Civic Center, I went to the Perry-McKinley girls game. This kid from McKinley is getting in my face telling me how he?s going to beat the crap out of me.
?He?s 5-foot-nothing, 100 pounds. I?m 7-foot, 265. It?d have been one-and-done. ... Finally, I just told him, ?Look, at least you know who I am. I?ve never heard of you before.?
?To be honest, I?d have it no other way. I love being like this.?
Koufos doesn?t mind trips to the malls ? or people who ask ?just how tall are you now?? He doesn?t mind attention from perfect strangers.
?The way I look at it, God blessed me with this height so I might as well make the best of it,? Koufos said. ?The worst thing that happened recently was some people got a hold of my cell phone number. They said some pretty nasty things.?
He pauses for effect.
?It?ll be my luck I?ll run into the one guy that wants to kill me,? Koufos said.
Better bring a lunch.
You don?t practice against this science lab experiment of height and strength. You get out of its way for 90 minutes.
Perry head coach Rob Toth is considering having assistant Pat Carroll where football pads against Frease. He isn?t joking.
?Pat does a lot of work with the big guys, and Kenny can put a hurting on those guys,? Toth said. ?His elbow level is about where everyone else?s head level is. If he caught somebody, he could probably hurt them.
?I stay out of his way, but I?m only 5-9. I might be below his elbow level.?
GlenOak practices are uneventful. Coach Jack Greynolds Jr. challenges the players to improve by going against Koufos. He hasn?t considered handing someone a broom under the basket and making his giant shoot over it.
?It?s something we could do,? Greynolds said. ?But he has such a good feel for what it takes to play against other big kids. He?s gone against enough big guys that he?s OK when he matches up with guys like Kenny.?
As big as both are ? literally and figuratively ? they get no star treatment. Frease?s parents talked with him after he received a technical last year.
Frease is the tallest person in his family, going back generations. His mother, Margie, is 6-1 and played basketball at Perry and Youngstown State. His dad is 6-4. Frease?s uncle Bob stands 6-5.
When he was 6, his then 12-year-old cousin beat him on the basketball court pretty good.
?That didn?t last long,? Frease said.
He was 5 inches taller than everyone in kindergarten. By the sixth grade, he was 6-3. Koufos was taller than his kindergarten teacher.
?But the teacher was really short,? Koufos said.
Koufos was a 6-foot fifth grader. His feet have been dangling over the edge of his bed so long, he?s used to it. It?s the rest of us who sleep weird.
?They have a chart for little kids for their growth rate when you go to the doctor,? Frease said. ?Every year I was in like the 200th percentile. Eventually, they couldn?t keep charts on me.?
His basketball became off the charts soon, too.
The view is nice at the top.
Koufos signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Ohio State. Frease is being courted by every major college.
And Stark County has both of them. How cool is that?
?It happens every now and then with high-powered schools, but to have two guys who are native to the land, that?s definitely odd,? said Dave Telep, national recruiting director for scout.com. ?To have two guys like that, 7-feet tall and not be in a major metropolitan area defies the odds.?
What is more impressive is these guys aren?t stiffs. They can breathe the air up there and not trip over the laces way down there.
Koufos may be 7-2 by the end of this season. His 7-5 wingspan doesn?t make him the rare big man (which means he?s 3 inches shy of a perfect 7-foot-5 square under the hoop). Koufos? game is more skill and shooting. Frease is more power. Get him the ball and look out.
They?ll meet for the first time since both have developed into high-ranking national recruits on Jan. 19, at Perry.
Some believe Frease and Koufos don?t get along. Koufos said that?s just talk.
?Kenny is a great person, a great basketball player as well. He?s got a bright future ahead,? Koufos said. ?I?m looking forward to that game. Every game I don?t play a 7-footer, I?m getting double- and triple-teamed. It will be a good game. I look forward to it.?
Two dominant 7-footers in the same high school gym? Maybe they ought to go to the mall to start blending in.
 
Upvote 0
Koufos had a great game last night...

Canton

Numbers alone don?t satisfy Koufos

Saturday, December 9, 2006

By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER


PLAIN TWP. The kid had all his team?s points until there were five minutes left in the first half. He grabbed 23 rebounds and finished with 27 points. He grabbed a loose ball under the basket and dunked it ? all in one motion.

And Kosta Koufos didn?t think he played very well Friday. The GlenOak High School boys basketball team beat St. Thomas Aquinas, 55-47, without Koufos? best effort. What does that say about the Golden Eagles?
What does it say about Koufos? That he wasn?t satisfied? Maybe he doesn?t read his media clippings.

?We won, and I did OK,? Koufos said between a short break of his own practice after the game. He was kicking himself for his 5-of-11 effort from the foul line.

The 7-foot-2, Ohio State-bound senior locked himself in the gym at GlenOak after the game to practice 3-pointers. Then he went to the foul line. Last week, after the Eagles lost their opener, coach Jack Greynolds Jr. gave Koufos a key to let himself out. The big man was there until 1:30 a.m.

?That?s the way he is,? Greynolds said. ?The kid is never satisfied.?

That attitude is starting to rub off on the young players.

GlenOak is slowly emerging from its one-man-show shadow.

Mark Quinn was the only other GlenOak player in double figures with 16 points, but four teammates had a hand in the Eagles? 12-0 fourth-quarter run that allowed them to pull away.

Aquinas led, 37-35, with 5:44 left when the run began, but freshman T.J. Sutton drilled a 3-pointer that gave GlenOak the lead for good.

?We were in more of a flow there,? Greynolds said. ?We probably do still get caught up in watching Kosta play a little. ... We can?t be a one-man team.

He?s going to be the focus, but he can?t play one-against-five or we won?t win many.?

It was one-against-five into the second quarter, and GlenOak was in the game.

Koufos had 16 points and 13 rebounds at half. He scored GlenOak?s first 16 points. An Eagle under 7-2 didn?t score until 5:31 was left in the second quarter. Quinn hit two free throws to tie the game at 16.

Nothing was free at the foul line in the first half. GlenOak shot just 5-of-15 from the line in the first half and 17-of-37 for the game, including eight misses in the final quarter.

But the Golden Eagles went on a 7-0 run near the end of the first and took a 24-22 lead at halftime. Koufos got some help from his teammates. In addition to Quinn?s foul shots, he knocked down a 20-footer that broke a 20-20 tie.

Aquinas was feisty. The Knights had to depend on solid perimeter shooting because of Koufos? presence inside. They hit 17-of-50 field shots, far from what first-year head coach Joe Harold wanted. But Harold, a veteran coach who?s been away from the court for 13 years, liked what he saw.

?We did all we could with him,? Harold said. ?(Koufos) is a big-time Division I athlete. He earned just about every one of his points. He worked hard.?

Aquinas didn?t have a player within 6 inches of Koufos, so Harold worked other mismatches. Adam Grimm finished with 14 points.

?That was, by far, our best effort since we started back in the preseason,? Harold said. ?And it took our best effort to keep it close.?

Koufos knows a thing or two about effort. He played nearly the entire game, finally leaving the floor in the final minute. After his self-organized practice, he was heading home.

?I?m leaving early tonight,? Koufos said. ?Probably before 10:30.?
Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail:

[email protected]
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top