Davidson Wildcats
2020-2021 Overall Rank: #100
Conference Rank: #7 A-10
Last season did not go well by Davidson’s standards. They won just 16 games. They have not had a lower win total than that since 2000-2001. They made the NCAA Tournament the following season and started to become the Wildcats program that dominated the Southern Conference for over a decade. Since the move to the Atlantic 10, Coach Bob McKillop’s squad has faced tougher competition and wins have been a little tougher to come by, but the team still has made the NCAA Tournament in four of the five years in the conference when a postseason has been held.
2019-20 Record: 16-14, 10-8
Coach: Bob McKillop
Coach Record: 594-364 at Davidson, 594-364 overall
Key Departed Players:
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Guard, 14.5 ppg
Luke Frampton, Guard, 9.8 ppg
Malcolm Wynter, Guard, 1.1 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Kellan Grady, Senior, Guard, 17.2 ppg
Luka Brajkovic, Junior, Forward, 10.3 ppg
Carter Collins, Senior, Guard, 10.0 ppg
Michael Jones, Sophomore, Guard, 5.7 ppg
Hyunjung Lee, Sophomore, Guard/Forward, 8.4 ppg
Bates Jones, Senior, Forward, 2.7 ppg
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, Junior, Forward, 2.3 ppg
David Czerapowicz, Sophomore, Guard, dnp last season
Key New Players:
Grant Huffman, Freshman, Guard
Emory Lanier, Freshman, Guard
Sam Mennenga, RS Freshman, Forward
Projection:
Four starters are back, but the one that isn’t is a big one. Jon Axel Gudmundsson averaged an impressive 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals during his senior season and is now playing in Germany. Kellan Grady is back for his senior season and will again be the team’s main scoring threat after averaging 17.2 points per game. He can score every way possible, but without Gudmundsson, Grady will have to spend more time with the ball in his hands. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does limit the options. Carter Collins, Michael Jones and Hyunjung Lee are all capable shooters. Jones only averaged 5.7 points per game last season, but he rarely stepped inside the arc. If the sophomore can now add more to his overall game, he could drastically boost his numbers. Luka Brajkovic will again hold down the frontcourt. The 6-10 junior averaged 10.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 2019-2020 and will have to do more on the glass this time around. Lee is a big guard at 6-7 so it seems logical that he will see a few more minutes this year to help replace Gudmundsson’s production on the glass. And it is not like this was a great rebounding team with Gudmundsson so that could be the area of the game that keeps Davidson from making a serious push towards the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.7 (127th in nation, 4th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.5 (124, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.3 (92, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.2 (200, 10)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.1 (34, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.7 (34, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 76.2 (24, 2)
Rebound Margin: 0.4 (172, 6)
Assists Per Game: 14.1 (93, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.1 (24, 2)
