The Case for Optimism *gulp*

A few weeks ago I met a fellow Davidson Grad in a Dick’s Sporting Goods just outside Charleston, South Carolina. He talked to me about Rikus Schulte, losing Hyunjung Lee last year, and how he was cautiously optimistic about the team for this upcoming season. If you had asked me a few months ago if I agreed with the Class of ’77 Grad I don’t think I would’ve been able to answer in the affirmative. The offseason started off by losing the two clear cut best players on last season’s team: Foster Loyer, expectedly, and Sam Mennenga, unexpectedly. Matters only seemed to get worse after Des Watson decided to transfer and we lost two recruits, Benny Schroder, who I desperately wanted on the Cats, and Zamoku Weluche-Ume, to George Washington. If you had asked me at this point, I’d have gloomily stated that Davidson was due for another rebuilding season and likely doomed to finishing in the pillow fight for the first time in program history…

But the offseason doesn’t end in May, and after a few productive months I have become much more optimistic about what this team can and will accomplish. First off, let’s talk about the roster construction. I’ve said it ad nauseum, but this team is going to feel a lot more like a typical Davidson team than last year’s team did. Why? It starts with shooting. It is no secret that last year’s team was HORRIBLE from the 3-point arc, but I’ve already written way too much about that. Matt McKillop and the staff decided to attack this weakness head on and add as many shooters as possible. Brizzi, Moss, Durkin, and Loughnane are all newcomers who can absolutely shoot the lights out (Durkin and Loughnane in particular shot over 40% on 3s in High School). Even the other two newcomers who aren’t known for their shooting have shown us some reason to be optimistic. Hunter Adam in particular came in known more for his scoring at the rim but has a picture perfect 3-point shooting form and has been hitting 3s in practices and scrimmages. These 6 newcomers replace 2 players who shot 24.4% and 33.9% from 3 for their career and another who shot just 33.5% from 3 last season. If the “on-paper” translates to “on-the-court” then Davidson will have upgraded its 3-point shooting ability massively.

This is critical, because as many saw last year, the ability to shoot is the lifeblood of a Davidson offense. Not only does the famed McKillop motion offense produce so many open looks from 3 (which last year’s team seemingly could not knock down) but making 3s and forcing opponents to respect Davidson’s shooters creates the room needed for the offense’s patented backdoor cuts. That’s why I think that being able to put 4 shooters on the floor at once and hitting 3s will improve Davidson’s offense exponentially, and hopefully a return to the typically elite Davidson offenses we are used to.

The second reason I’m cautiously optimistic is because the pieces on this team fit much better than last year. First off, we’ve written about how Sam Mennenga was forced to play out of position at the 5 and how that greatly hurt the team’s rim protection. With Mennenga moving on for a professional opportunity in Australia Davidson will mainly play David Skogman and Sean Logan at center now, their natural position. Sean Logan in particular could play a MASSIVE role on this season’s team because of his uncanny ability to block shots and protect the rim at a level that we may not have seen at Davidson before (at least according to Head Coach Matt McKillop). Even if Logan hasn’t taken the jump we are all hoping for, Skogman is a rock-solid 4th year who excelled as a role player last year and should be able to hold down the 5 spot admirably.

Additionally, the simple numbers game of scholarships is much more positive for the Cats this year than it was last year. Last season Davidson had just 8 healthy scholarship players, With such a thin roster Head Coach Matt McKillop’s flexibility was greatly hampered. When things went wrong he didn’t really have anywhere to turn, and he didn’t have enough players to experiment with lineups or combinations either. He was more or less boxed into the same rotation and the same lineup combinations for the entire season, even when it was clear they were not working as well as he wanted. This season, Matt McKillop will have a full assortment of 13 healthy scholarship players and multiple options at every position. If Coach McKillop wants to experiment and change things up, he has the numbers to do so again. That is huge thing for a coach to be able to do.

Third, there are some legit breakout candidates on this team. The primary one that comes to mind is former 4-star Reed Bailey. As most of our readers know, Bailey is sort of a unicorn on the basketball court as he’s 6’11 but has the skills of a guard. He flashed his high-level ability last season but mostly stayed in the background as the more experienced guys dominated the ball. With his freshman days behind him, we’ve been hearing a lot of good things about him. The word is that he’s much more aggressive while still maintaining his fluidity. He should enter the season confident and primed for a breakout sophomore campaign.

Another key figure to watch is Angelo Brizzi. Brizzi is another 4-star type talent and he transferred to Davidson after a season and a half with Villanova. Before he transferred I saw a lot of Villanova fans push Head Coach Kyle Neptune to give him more of a shot, and when he ultimately did enter the transfer portal there was no shortage of Nova accounts willing to vouch for the young man. There was also word that he was clearly one of Davidson’s 5 best players when he practiced with the team in the fall while still ineligible. The coaching staff worked insanely hard to land him, and we are expecting a lot from him now that he has a chance to shine. At the very least, his size and physicality will be much appreciated.

I don’t know if it counts as a breakout if the guy is a freshman who was highly sought after as a recruit, but if so the word on Durkin is really encouraging. Many are expecting him to win a starting spot immediately and the word has been that he’s making everything from 3 and that his length at 6’7 is a big plus on the wing… Some have even started comparing him to Mike Jones, a key figure on the 2021/22 team. If Durkin can live up to that lofty comparison, we will be ecstatic.

Last but not least, I’m cautiously optimistic that the defense will be much improved. Starting with the backcourt, Huffman and Brizzi are as exciting defensively with their athleticism, size, and physicality, as any Davidson backcourt I can remember. Those two have a chance to pair up to be a legitimate strength on this squad and when those two need a breath Matt McKillop can turn to experienced options Jarvis Moss or Achile Spadone, who have both graded out positively on the defensive end in their career, or Mike Loughnane, who has the size (6’4) and athleticism to be a plus defender in his collegiate career. It helps too that Jarvis Moss is 6’4 and athletic and Spadone is also 6’4 and hardnosed on the defensive end. The defense down low should also improve as we already spoke about. If you want to hear more about Davidson’s defense check out 3-Man Weave, a popular and excellent college basketball twitter account, who dove into the topic a bit on their podcast previewing the team.

It's impossible to ignore that Davidson lost 3 of its 4 best players and that preseason projections largely range from 9 to 12, but I’m seriously, even if cautiously, optimistic that this team will outperform those expectations. The pieces fit better, the roster is more complete, the 3-point shooting is better, and all the pieces are there on defense to be better as well. At the end of the day, this squad looks a lot more like a typical McKillop Davidson squad and that gives me hope.