Koby Brea, Nation’s 3-Point Leader, Joins Wildcats
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A sharpshooter and two-time Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year, Koby Brea (pronounced BRAY-ah), was added to the Kentucky men’s basketball roster, head coach Mark Pope announced on Wednesday.
Brea paced the nation in 3-point percentage a season ago, making 49.8% of his attempts for Dayton, the nation’s third best in 3-point percentage in 2023-24. Brea averaged 3.0 made 3s per game for the Flyers who went 25-8 on the season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.
“By the numbers, Koby Brea is the most efficient mid-to-high major player in college basketball in the last decade,” Pope said. “He’s the best returning shooter in college basketball next year. Koby is a dangerous, dangerous man who is a great human with an incredible family. He will be key in allowing us to play the style of basketball that we love the most. Koby and this group are going to take Big Blue Nation on an incredible ride.”
A native of Washington Heights, New York, Brea has made 21 starts in 113 games for the Flyers. Dayton went 85-41 with Brea on the roster and amassed 22 or more wins in each of the last three seasons.
Brea appeared in 17 games as a freshman and averaged 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Brea earned his first A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honor after notching 8.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. He connected on 43.6% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range, making 1.8 3-pointers per game. An injury-plagued junior year still saw Brea play in 28 games and make 10 starts. He logged 6.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Brea broke out for a memorable season during his fourth year in Dayton. He averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while contributing 1.2 assists per game en route to A-10 Sixth Man of the Year honors for the second time in his career. He joins Xavier’s James Posey (1997 and 1998) as the league’s only two-time winners of the award. Brea connected on 51.2% of his field goals, including the nation-leading 49.8%, with a minimum of 2.5 makes per game, from long range.
Brea was able to rise to the occasion in big moments this season. He tallied 13 points, including the game-tying 3 with 48 seconds left in a win over LSU. Brea totaled a career-high 22 points, six rebounds and two steals at SMU, where he scored seven of UD’s last eight points in the two-point victory. The 6-foot-6 wing connected on six of eight 3s against SMU. Other season highlights include making 5 of 8 from deep to score 17 points and finish plus-24 against Oakland, and he scored 18 points, 16 coming in the second half, in the come-from-behind VCU win, which included 4 of 5 makes from long range.
In all, Brea has recorded 38 double-digit scoring efforts and connected on three or more from distance on 33 occasions. He has scored 889 career points, hauled in 351 rebounds, dished out 120 assists and connected on 224 3-pointers at a 43.4% rate.
In two NCAA Tournament games this season, Brea was 9 of 16 (56.3%) from 3-point range against Nevada and Arizona. He scored at least 14 points and made at least four 3s in both contests.
Prior to signing with Dayton, Brea averaged 20.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game as a senior at Monsignor Scanlon High School. The squad advanced to the final four of the Class AA New York Catholic High School Athletic Association for the first time in school history before COVID-19 canceled the tournament.
In the summer of 2019, Brea represented the Dominican National Team in the U-17 FIBA Centrobasket Championships in San Juan. Although he was born in the United States, both of his parents are from the Dominican Republic, making him eligible to play for the national team. He played in five games, averaging 26.8 minutes, 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He connected on 44% of his field-goal attempts and 41% from 3-point range.
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