What's New?

So what’s new? What did we add and what did we lose? Well unfortunately the program lost it two clearcut best players from last season, Foster Loyer and Sam Mennenga, both of whom were deservedly All-A10 Selections. Foster and Sam combined to average about 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. They also had more than 150 starts and 8 years of experience between them. Replacing their leadership, experience, and production will be quite the task.

Davidson also lost Des Watson to the transfer portal. The impact of Des’s transfer is a bit more nuanced. Des was Davidson’s most exciting player this past season and teased great potential, improving immensely from a freshman season where he shot 33% from the field and 18% from 3 to a rock-solid sophomore campaign. A 17-game stretch from December 3rd to February 15th illustrated this potential when he averaged 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist per game on 35% shooting from 3 and 44% overall. That 17-game stretch was sandwiched though between the season’s first 8 games and final 7 games. In those two stretches he averaged 7/4/2 on 16% from 3 and 38% from 2 and 8/3/1 on 19% from 3 and 34.5% from 2. I’m of the mind that Des, thanks to his outstanding work ethic, will develop into an All-A10 player by the time he graduates Loyola-Chicago, but his stats do show how he was an awkward fit in Davidson’s offense, which is predicated on the 3-pointer (both making it and the threat of it which opens up the backdoor cuts). It’s very possible that Des leaving for a program better suited to his skillset is a win-win for player and program (I’d feel better about this notion if we had landed Benny Schroder instead of losing him to GW though).

Now we turn to the additions. The newest Davidson Wildcats are Angelo Brizzi, Jarvis Moss, Hunter Adam, Bobby Durkin, Mike Loughnane, and Rikus Schulte. Brizzi is 6-3, 180 lb Point Guard who transferred in from Villanova after spending 1.5 years in the Philly suburbs. Out of high school Brizzi was a highly sought after 4-star recruit and received offers from Villanova (obviously), Arizona, Michigan, and many more P6 schools. Word around his recruitment was that Davidson was very close to getting his signature originally, so the staff has wanted him badly, for quite a while. As a transfer Davidson had to work hard to land him, beating out schools such as West Virginia. On the court he has a rep for being the classic Villanova PG, basically good at everything from the mental to the physical and the defensive to the offensive. For this reason he might remind Davidson fans of a younger JAG, a point guard who did a lot of everything. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a young man but we feel strongly about his abilities. Brizzi’s plus 3-point shooting and cutting also allows him to share the floor seamlessly with Grant Huffman (something that’ll happen far more often than not). Brizzi will start day 1; in fact, I’ve been told that he would’ve started during the Spring Semester from the day he enrolled at Davidson and started practicing with the team.

Next up is Jarvis Moss. Moss is a 6’4 180 lb wing, and a bouncy athlete with a smooth jump shot from nearby Concord, North Carolina. As a recruit he had offers from the best mid-major programs in the Carolinas but ultimately chose Stanford. After 2 years in the Bay he transferred to Davidson. The staff has been familiar with his game for a while and was very excited to add him to the program. There was some complaining from the Davidson Basketball Forum over his lack of production at Stanford, but I can confidently say that if we landed him out of high school we all would’ve been ESTATIC. His athleticism will be a much-needed addition to this roster and his plus 3-point shooting make him a perfect fit for the system. I expect Moss to be the team’s 6th man right off the bat but wouldn’t be surprised if he won the starting wing spot.

Bobby Durkin is a 6’7 200 lb Wing who committed to Davidson during his post grad year at IMG Academy. Durkin was a high 3-star who had offers from Georgia Tech, Richmond, and Wyoming. He was a priority target and has been praised by national recruiting experts as an impressive late-riser and an under-the-radar commit. Recruiting Expert Adam Finkelstein described him as a highly skilled forward. His year at IMG, more a high-powered sports program with a school rather than vice versa, will have also served his development well. He will remind a lot of Davidson fans of Kishawn Pritchett pre-injuries and brings many of the same skills including desperately needed proficiency from 3-point range. He will fight for a role day 1 and will be a big-time player sooner rather than later.

Hunter Adam is a 6-7 200 lb Wing from New Zealand who enrolled in January and practiced with the team for the spring semester. He’s been lauded as a highly physical, athletic player and I’ve been told he was arguably the team’s best defensive player in practices. His physicality will be much needed to help a program that had a lot of trouble on the boards last year. We were also lucky enough to talk to New Zealand Basketball Expert Stevie Cozens about Hunter. Mr. Cozens told us that “Hunter Adam is the number one recruit in the 2023 class from New Zealand [, and] a highly accomplished player.” He also made sure to note Adam’s proficiency at finishing around the rim, his strong IQ, his defensive ability, and his ball handling. Cozens also noted that he has a smooth jump shot that reflects positively on Adam’s long-term ability to develop a consistent 3-point shot. I expect the staff to use Hunter as a defensive Swiss-army knife in the short term, and in the long term his ceiling is quite high if he can develop a consistent 3-point shot.

Mike Loughnane is a 6-4 200 lb Point Guard from Quincy, Mass. Loughnane has produced at every level of basketball he’s played in, including in High School, AAU ball, and during a post grad year at Phillips Exeter Academy playing against high level New England prep schools. Loughnane’s commitment to the cause cannot be questioned either as he committed almost immediately after Matt McKillop offered him. As a coach’s son he’s got the mental game one would expect from a Davidson point guard. He’s also got good athleticism to pair with elite 3-point shooting and an excellent knack for cutting off-ball. These qualities make him a perfect fit at Davidson. Seeing him step up a level of competition and produce during his PG year has us feeling very optimistic about his game long-term. I’ve been told that he resembles a young Grant Huffman on the court with a more advanced 3-point shot. His shooting and cutting ability let him play off-ball effectively as well. He should compete with Spadone for the 3rd guard role and be a major piece before long.

Finally, Davidson made a late-in-the-cycle pickup when they added Rikus Schulte. Schulte is a 6-9, 225 lb big from Germany, where he played for Germany’s biggest basketball club Alba Berlin. Against his own age group he averaged 12.4 pts, 6 rbs, and 2 asts in about 26 mpg for a team that went 20-3. He also got the chance to play 7 games against professionals in the Bundesliga 1 (Germany’s top league) where he held his own in 9 minutes per game. His athleticism won't wow you, but his game just oozes Davidson. You see shades of every Davidson big in his game and he's a clear and obvious fit. He’s a very good rebounder and has a nice touch on his jumper too and has the potential to extend his range out to the 3 at a plus level. Euro Hoops described him like this, “Excellent size for his position, just a below-average athlete, though. Not explosive or fast but plays the game at his own speed. High IQ all-around forward/big that constantly tries to make the right play. Offensively he can post-up with an excellent touch around the rim and recently also showed increasing potential as a floor-spacer but is also a very timely cutter around the basket.” He reminds me of David Skogman and I think most fans will agree once they watch him play. I think we can expect him to provide competent minutes and depth immediately. Let's also not forget Davidson's track record with late-in-the-cycle pickups, which include Luka Brajkovic and Hyunjung Lee.

That’s it for additions and subtractions after another busy offseason but it’s important to remember that there is a lot of potential already on the team. In particular I think that Reed Bailey and Sean Logan are prime breakout candidates and Connor Kochera is a post-hype breakout candidate to keep an eye on as well, but that is another article for another day. What is clear right now though is that the staff was purposeful in addressing last season’s most problematic areas: shooting, rebounding, athleticism, and defense. I also think that Matt McKillop and the staff really focused on getting guys who they think fit the Davidson system like a glove. All in all I think the staff did an admirable job this offseason.