Bigger, and better balanced: 5 things to know about Davidson basketball in 2024-25

The Davidson College men’s basketball team ranked No. 302 in the nation last year in 3-point field goal accuracy.

Let that sink in … 302nd.

It’s the same program that produced arguably basketball’s best 3-point shooter, Steph Curry, along with other noted distance shooters such as Jack Gibbs, Kellan Grady and a young guard named Matt McKillop.

“It was a little bit of an outlier, in terms of the history of our program,” acknowledged McKillop, now head coach of the Wildcats.

Davidson tried to compensate for the offensive problems with an excellent defense, but it wasn’t enough to save the Wildcats from a 15-17 season and a first-round exit in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

McKillop said a January injury to David Skogman, the team’s leading 3-point shooter, was a big reason the Wildcats made only 31.7 percent of their long-range shots last season.

“I’m excited about where we’re at for this season,” McKillop said.

The Davidson men open at home Monday (7 p.m.) against William Peace College.

Here are five things to know about Davidson men’s basketball, with the team’s opener just days away:

Wildcats will be bigger

Davidson will be taller at most positions than a year ago, with 6-11 Reed Bailey and 6-11 Joe Hurlburt expected to play key roles, and players like 6-10 Sean Logan and several others in the 6-5 or 6-6 range seeing plenty of action.

Bailey, who averaged 12.7 points and 5.8 rebounds last season, was named to the Atlantic 10’s preseason all-conference third team. He scored in double figures 21 times a year ago. Hurlburt saw limited action at Colorado, but the Buffaloes were loaded in the frontcourt.

Davidson’s aim: Balance

Last year’s Wildcat team had the program’s lowest adjusted offensive efficiency rating (according to KenPom.com) in 14 years. But it also had the best defensive efficiency rating for the program in 15 years.

“We played tough defense, and while we’re not quite where we were last year, defensively, we’re still growing,” McKillop said.

He said the goal is to improve the offense and bring the two aspects of the game more into balance.

“We think we have people who can help us score,” McKillop said.

Narrow losses hurt

Davidson was 4-11 last season in games decided by five points or fewer. In most of those games, shooting woes hurt the Wildcats.

“We return four starters from a team that maybe didn’t show success in the (won-loss) record, but that team was one or two possessions away in many games,” McKillop said.

While good defense can keep Davidson close, the Wildcats will need to make their shots. McKillop said several of the freshmen and transfers added to the roster, along with some changes in coaching strategy, hopefully will make the difference.

Expectations are tempered

Media members covering the A-10 clearly aren’t expecting Davidson to return to the top of the conference standings, where it resided seemingly every year until a few years ago.

The Wildcats, who lost their final six games last season, are picked to finish 12th of the 15 teams. VCU, Dayton, St. Joseph, Saint Louis and Loyola Chicago are the top five picks in the preseason poll.

Looking for The Guy

Since Stephen Curry wore a Davidson uniform from 2006-09, the Wildcats have been at their best when they had The Guy — a player who could produce points in bunches, preferably from 3-point range; who took the pressure off teammates to operate more independently; and who brought the crowd alive at Belk Arena.

After Curry went to the NBA, there were others in his footsteps — Jack Gibbs, Peyton Aldridge, Kellan Grady.

But since Grady left Davidson for Kentucky through the transfer portal in March 2021, the Wildcats haven’t had that type of player.

The Guy might be on the current Davidson roster. McKillop is high on 6-4 freshman Roberts Blums, a shooting specialist from Latvia. Or it might be 6-4 graduate guard Zach Laput, who averaged 18.4 points a game for Division 2 Bentley College.

If someone emerges in that role this season, the Wildcats could turn things around in a hurry.