Davidson has a lot going for it with a Michigan State transfer and a blossoming A10 star

Davidson College launches its men’s basketball season Tuesday night at home against Delaware, and the Wildcats didn’t pick the easiest opponent for an opener.

The visiting Blue Hens return all five starters from last season and were picked to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association. They’re led by Dylan Painter, an all-conference pick who averaged a double-double (13.5 points, 11.5 rebounds) a game last season.

It’s the 33rd season for Davidson under head coach Bob McKillop, who has a career 607-373 record.

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at Belk Arena. Unlike the COVID-altered 2020-21 season, fans will be permitted at Davidson games this season.

Here are four things to know about the Wildcats as they open a new season:

Some things have changed

Yes, there will be a different look — different, as in no-Kellan-Grady.

Grady, who scored 2,002 points in four years with Davidson, is playing this season as a graduate transfer with another Wildcats team — Kentucky.

One new face this season is Foster Loyer, a 6-foot guard who transferred to Davidson from Michigan State, where he was a team captain last season. Loyer is a former Mr. Basketball in Michigan, but he missed much of last season with an injury.

“He can really shoot the basketball, and I mean really shoot it,” McKillop said.

There are five freshmen on the roster (more about a local freshman later), and McKillop tapped his international pipeline for one of those new faces, 6-7 wing Styrmir Thrastarson. He’s the second Icelandic player to suit up for the Wildcats, following Jon Axel Gudmundsson, a former Davidson standout now playing professionally in Europe.

Life will go on without Kellan Grady

McKillop acknowledges that Grady’s departure leaves a hole to fill, but he said forward Luka Brajkovic and wing Hyunjung Lee were secondary outlets for Grady last season and are ready to step up.

“We feel very confident that one inside and one outside can step into the role that Kellan left,” McKillop said.

Brajkovic scored 21 points last week in Davidson’s 98-56 exhibition victory over Ferrum College. Lee, a 6-7 junior, last season became the first Wildcat ever to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor for a season. That’s saying something, from a program that also produced Grady and Steph Curry.

“We have the opportunity to create a new identity this season,” said Brajkovic, who, like Lee, has experience playing for a national team. “I’m really looking forward to showing people that we can win with a different team.”

Another player to watch this season will be Sam Mennenga, a 6-9 sophomore from New Zealand. McKillop expects Mennenga to give the Wildcats a stronger inside presence than in recent seasons.

“He has the capacity to go inside, or to shoot from the outside,” McKillop said.

A sixth-place prediction

A panel of head coaches and media members who voted in the Atlantic-10’s preseason poll have lukewarm expectations about Davidson this season.

The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth in the 14-team A-10. Defending champion St. Bonaventure was the unanimous No. 1 pick, followed by Richmond, Saint Louis, VCU and Dayton in the top five.

Lee was a first-team all-conference preseason pick, and Brajkovic was named to the third team.

The Wildcats’ schedule is a bit different than in recent seasons. In 2018-19, Davidson faced three Power 5 opponents (Purdue, Wake Forest and North Carolina). A year later, there were four (Auburn, Wake Forest, Marquette and Vanderbilt).

This season, there are no Power 5 teams on the schedule, although the Wildcats might face Oklahoma in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, set for Nov. 19-21.

Instead, Davidson plays several strong mid-major opponents, such as Delaware, San Francisco and perennial NCAA qualifier New Mexico State. And on Dec. 22, the Wildcats host Loyola Chicago, which went 26-5 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

The local connection

As usual, Davidson’s lineup has a local connection. Charlotte Latin’s Bates Jones has graduated, but a new arrival is freshman Chris Ford, who learned the game at Piedmont IB Middle and North Mecklenburg High.

Ford, a 6-5 forward, is likely to get ample playing time this season. He had eight points and two steals in the exhibition victory over Ferrum.