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Our story begins in Lawrence, Kansas.
Yes, Lawrence is not an ACC locale, but trust me — I know where I am going with this.
If you have paid any attention to the Kansas Jayhawks in recent weeks, you have noticed how few bodies Bill Self had available. He had no choice but to throw some young players into the fire. Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack are two good examples. He also had to give more minutes to role players such as K.J. Lawson, who played more than 20 minutes this past Saturday against West Virginia, the first time he had done so since transferring from Memphis with his brother, Dedric Lawson.
Necessity is the mother of invention. From desperation can come a tangible resource which makes a team stronger than it was before a crisis hit.
If you are a Virginia Tech fan, you can see how the process at Kansas relates to the Hokies. The man who could embody this process of reconstituting coach Buzz Williams’ team on the floor is Jonathan Kabongo.
The freshman entered this past Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh against the Panthers without having played at least 10 minutes in any 2019 game. His last taste of double-figure minutes came on December 28 against Maryland-Eastern Shore. In ACC play, Kabongo played for only one minute in three separate games. He played five garbage-time minutes in the 47-24 win at North Carolina State. His only meaningful taste of ACC playing time before this Saturday came on February 9 at Clemson. He played eight minutes and scored three points. He got his feet wet, but not enough to make a huge difference.
This past Saturday in the Steel City, Kerry Blackshear carried Virginia Tech to a 70-64 win over Pitt with 29 points on 8-of-9 field goal shooting and a 10-of-11 shooting line from the charity stripe. He was magnificent, and the Hokies wouldn’t have won without him. Yet, lost in the shadows of Blackshear’s brilliance is that Kabongo played 13 minutes and scored six points in a game the Hokies won by six.
Sure, it was Pitt and not the Virginia team the Hokies will face on Monday. Sure, it was not Cameron Indoor Stadium or a fierce road environment. Nevertheless, Kabongo played more minutes and was not a disaster. He made a tangible contribution. He will almost certainly go through growing pains as the Hokies try to continue to compensate for the absence of not only Justin Robinson, but also Landers Nolley and the other players they originally expected to have at their disposal this season. Nevertheless, if Kabongo can learn something each time he takes the court in the coming weeks, he could become a serviceable bench player by the time the ACC and NCAA Tournaments roll around. He might not load up the stat sheet, but if he can steal 10 minutes for a member of the starting five and not cause the Hokies to hemorrhage points or rebounds, that would be an accomplishment in itself.
Kansas is reconfiguring its lineup. Jonathan Kabongo is in the process of giving Buzz and Virginia Tech this same newfound flexibility. If he can continue to provide 10 to 13 minutes of “not-bad” basketball, the Hokies’ March prospects will improve, assuming Robinson can return in full health before it’s too late.
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