Junior guard relies heavily on 3-point shot for success
Josh Kozinski knew a college would want him if he could shoot.
Now in his fourth year with the Central Michigan men's basketball team, shooting is all Kozinski knows.
The redshirt junior has taken 662 shots for the Chippewas — 638 from the 3-point line in his career.
"I didn't know about the volume of threes I would be shooting but I did know that I would be a shooter here. I noticed that there would be a lot of opportunities to shoot threes," Kozinski said. "With great point guards like Braylon (Rayson), (Marcus) Keene, and Chris Fowler, they are able to get to the rim and draw so much attention."
While most of the spotlight belongs to the team’s top-two scorers in Keene and Rayson, Kozinski has been quietly prolific from the 3-point line.
Through 24 games this season, Kozinski has taken 174 total shots, with 164 of them coming from the 3-point line. Of the shots he’s made, 57 of 61 them are 3-pointers. With one year left, he's on pace to surpass Rayson for the most 3-point attempts in CMU men's basketball history.
His ability to knock down shots has helped lead the Chippewas to a 16-8 overall record, and 6-5 in the Mid-American Conference. It's no secret CMU relies heavily on the 3-pointer as 51 percent of the team's attempts have come from the 3-point line.
"We bleed shooting threes. We love it," Kozinski said. "We know that everybody on the team is capable of making threes, so making a couple here and there really gets the team going."
The Edwardsburg native joined the Chippewas in 2013 during head coach Keno Davis' second year as head coach. According to ESPN, Kozinski was a two-star high school basketball recruit and had offers from CMU, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Toledo and Houston Baptist.
"Although we might not have found the biggest or most athletic guys, we could find guys that could really shoot and wanted to develop," Davis said. "Josh Kozinski fits into that mold."
Davis said Kozinski was one of the best shooters they could find coming out of high school and the 6-foot-4 guard was one of CMU's top targets in 2013.
"He's got an incredibly fast release," Davis praised. "Not only does he affect the game when he is able to knock down shots, but he also stretches the defense for guys to attack inside."
Davis said Kozinski is one of the most valuable players on the team because of his shooting ability.
"He gets publicity in the games when he knocks down a lot of threes, but he's sometimes the silent reason why we are able to have a Marcus Keene or a Braylon Rayson,” Davis said. “We don't win the (Mid-American Conference) championship without him."
No matter where he is on the court, Kozinski said he's always read to shoot.
"These guys will yell at you if you aren't ready to shoot," Kozinski of Keene and Rayson. "If I turn down a three, they will get mad at me for not shooting. It's great to have teammates that hold you accountable for shooting the ball. There's nothing like having a teammate getting mad at you for not shooting."
Kozinski's always-ready mentality keeps defenses from focusing solely on Keene and Rayson, who score more than 57 percent of CMU’s points.
"He's come up big at the end of games," Davis said. "(Kozinski) is also that guy who can make you pay if you fall asleep on him. It allows you to be playing four-on-four on the defensive end."
Not only can Kozinski shoot the 3-pointer, he has also developed his defensive game. Kozinski leads the team in steals with 32 this season.
"Defense wasn't one of his strong suits coming in," Davis said. "He's turned into being a pretty good defensive player."
Though he is still working on the rest of his game, Davis said Kozinski knows his strengths.
Keene, who leads the NCAA in scoring while shooting just under 10 3-point-attempts, said the 3-pointer means a lot to CMU.
"It's hard to defend and three is more than two," Keene said. "We have a lot of good shooters on the floor at all times. (Davis) recruits shooters and that's what (Davis) wants us to do. We take a lot of shots at practice, before and after games to make sure that our 3 is going."
CMU ranks 4th in points per game in Division I behind The Citadel, UCLA and Kentucky, according to ESPN. The Chippewas also rank No. 3 in 3-pointers attempted in the NCAA with 796 this season.
