Role change leads to breakout season for Xavier's James Farr
Xavier forward James Farr had a meeting with head coach Chris Mack in October.
The conversation was affirmation for what Farr had realized months earlier.
For the Musketeers to be successful, Farr knew he would have to make drastic changes to his game.
His willingness to accept a new role has sparked a breakout senior season for the 6-foot-10 big man, and has made Xavier a legitimate Final Four candidate.
A week after a season-ending loss to Arizona in the Sweet 16, Farr watched the game to review his two-point, one-rebound performance against the Wildcats.
"I was pretty much a non-factor in that game," Farr said. "I didn't really have anything else to add other than rebounding, and I didn't have a strong rebounding game that night because I was playing more on the outside."
Farr spent the offseason developing a low-post game, getting in the gym sometimes twice a day.
"Role acceptance is the biggest thing that has helped James Farr," Mack said following Xavier's win over Providence. "He's a great kid. He has a tremendous attitude. He's always been team first, but he's wanted to play sort of his way up until the start of this year.
.@XavierMBB's James Farr demonstrates the key concepts of rebounding. #BIGEAST https://t.co/nTGlkgpKqN
— FS1 (@FS1) February 6, 2016
"I had a long talk with him. I told him I wasn't trying to put handcuffs on him. I really believed that if he played this way, if he gave up the jump shots he fancied his game around, that if he did the dirty work, he could be an elite-level rebounder on the defensive end. He bought in hook, line, and sinker and because of it he may be the most improved player in our league and an all-conference type guy. I couldn't be happier for James."
Coming off the bench as the team's sixth man, Farr has taken only six 3-pointers this season, down from the 45 he had as a junior. He is up to third in the Big East in rebounding with 8.4 boards per game and ranks in the top-10 nationally in total rebounding percentage. Farr has also been the lynchpin in Xavier's 1-3-1 zone defense, as he tasked with anchoring the baseline.
"I'm the eyes of the zone, so I see everything," Farr said. "It's all through communication. The more I communicate with those guys in the 1-3-1 the easier their jobs are and easier for everyone to rebound because they know where everyone is at."
Farr, an Evanston, Illinois native who prepped a powerhouse Maine Central Institute, was recommended to the coaching staff by former point guard Dee Davis. Aside from walk-on Kevin Coker, Farr was the only player on the current roster to play for Xavier when it was still a member of the Atlantic 10. In that freshman season, Farr averaged 3.2 minutes per game and did not appear in 18 of 31 games. Farr would play in an expanded reserve role the following season, and would crack the starting lineup 26 times in 2014-15. Although, he admits it was a "really up-and-down" junior, relying more on jump shooting on a team that had enough shooters on the perimeter.
In a day and age where players are ready to transfer the moment they become unsatisfied with their role, Farr remained committed to the program.
"A lot of players in this country don't like themselves in the mirror," Farr said. "I asked myself, 'What am I doing wrong?' I saw those things. I figured it out. I went to work. I sacrificed and I waited my turn. A lot of people don't want to wait their turn.
"I didn't waver from the program. I stayed faithful even when things didn't go my way. It was only matter of time until I succeed."
Even in a breakout season, in which he is close to averaging a double-double, Farr still likely won't win either the Big East Most Improved Player or Sixth Man honors. But the sacrifices and changes Farr made weren't fueled for personal game or end of the year accolades.
"It'd be nice to win those individual awards and be recognized, but I realize my team getting recognized for winning is way more important," he said. "I don't really need anything else to tell me how well I'm playing. I'll just take winning. That's it."
