Our final New Zag preview features Bol Kong.

Bol Kong is the highly sought-after and much ballyhooed sophomore from British Columbia.  A little personal background on Kong is in order before we get to his basketball talents.  Kong was born in Sudan and moved to Canada at the age of 7.  Unlike fellow Zag Manny Arop, Kong did not obtain his Canadian citizenship until May of 2009.  Due to United States policy regarding the issuance of visas to Sudanese nationals, Kong was unable to enter the United States after his senior year in high school in 2006 and he subsequently sat out a year prior to attending Douglas College.  After finally obtaining his Canadian citizenship and receiving what is presumably a student visa, Kong joined the Zags on campus this September.

Barred from entering the U.S. in 2007, Bol enrolled in Douglas College in British Columbia and spent his 2007/08 basketball season there.  Douglas is a community college and Kong led the men to a Canadian Men's National Championship.  Last season Kong sat out as he awaited word on his visa status.  Essentially last season was Kong's redshirt season, and as he already has played one year of college basketball, he has three remaining years of eligibility, including this season.

Bol has been the subject of remarkable hype, and so far his minutes at Gonzaga have been very limited.  In the small amount of time that he has been on the court he has shown a willingness and ability to score the basketball.  Kong has a Dickau-Morrison-type offensive philosophy, where there are no shots that he doesn't like.  The problem that Kong faces, having missed two seasons of organized basketball and playing against inferior competition, is effort.  At Douglas, Kong was a superior athlete and did not have a need to be a very good defender.  The jump between Canadian community college basketball and D-1 basketball seems to have been quite drastic. Kong is stuggling to earn minutes on this Gonzaga team which has a new appreciation and desire for defending.

Kong is a slasher, and at 6'6" and 220 pounds he really does have the body to be a threat from almost everywhere on the floor.  Despite some early season injuries, and other issues keeping him off the floor, look for Kong to get increased minutes as the season goes on, especially during conference play.  Kong's game needs to continue to improve, especially on the defensive end of the floor, and he will be a solid contributor to both this year and future Gonzaga teams.

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