Penn State Hosting St. Francis Transfer F/C Josh Cohen For Visit

Mar 20, 2023 - 12:05 PM

Penn State’s 2022-23 season might have just come to an end, but Micah Shrewsberry & Co. are already preparing for next season by dipping their toe into the transfer portal. Later today, the Nittany Lions will be hosting one of the top transfers on the market in St. Francis’ Josh Cohen.

Cohen is as decorated a player as there is in the NEC, having earned First Team All-NEC honors and being named the NEC Player of the Year this past season. One look at his stats and it’s easy to see why: 21.8 PPG (on 58.7% shooting), 8.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.9 BPG, and 0.9 SPG. Simply put, he was an absolutely dominant player for the Red Flash.

Cohen’s game is straight of the 1980s; he’s an old school, back-to-the-basket post up player. Just about everything he does offensively is within 8 feet of the basket.

You can see the footwork, the touch around the basket (free throw line, not so much at 64.9% for his career), and the play-through strength for multiple and-ones. I think the concern for Cohen is dealing with the length and athleticism at the Big Ten level. Yes, the post moves are nice, but he’s not exactly fleet of foot and the lack of explosion sticks out for a 6-foot-10 kid when his highlights don’t show him dunking at all. The Fairleigh Dickinson>Purdue jokes aside, it’s a big step up from a low-major like the NEC to the Big Ten.

The fortunate thing is that Cohen was quite good when he went against quality competition this past season. In the non-conference, St. Francis faced off against three teams from multi-bid conferences — Butler, Ohio State, and Miami. Cohen’s performances against each:

• Butler: 18 points (57.1% shooting), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 2 steals
• Ohio State: 18 points (50% shooting), 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 blocks, and 0 steals
• Miami: 30 points (62.5% shooting), 9 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks, and 1 steal

Which all comes out to: 22 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.3 BPG, and 1 SPG in three contests. Very good, promising numbers should he decide on Penn State.