Five things to watch as the Davidson Wildcats begin preseason basketball practice

This college basketball season has the potential to be a special one at Davidson.

“We’re in a good place emotionally and physically,” said Wildcats coach Bob McKillop, who has the top-six players back from last season’s team that went 24-10 and played in the National Invitation Tournament. “The emotions of our players are about as good as can be.”

McKillop isn’t backing down from expectations for his 31st season at Davidson, which will include Davidson as a Top 25-worthy team and among the favorites in the Atlantic 10 with legitimate NCAA Tournament aspirations.

“The expectations are based on last year’s team, but is what we did good enough then?” McKillop said. “We won 24 games — and that’s a lot of games to win — but five of our losses were decided by four points or fewer. Losing those games was a remarkable statement of how close we were to having a spectacular season.”

Preseason practice for the Wildcats begins Friday. Here are five things to look for as Davidson prepares for its season opener Nov. 8 against NCAA Tournament semifinalist Auburn:

Grady’s health

Junior guard Kellan Grady was the A-10’s second-leading scorer (17.3 points per game) last season and made first-team all-conference. All that despite being bothered by lingering soreness in his knee that cost him four games toward the beginning of the conference season.

McKillop says Grady is 100 percent now.

“Kellan has been determined about getting his body into the best possible shape it can be,” McKillop said. “He never did come back completely from that injury. It was the first time he’s ever been on the shelf. He’s done everything from a rehab standpoint that’s been asked of him.”

Guards everywhere

The Wildcats will again feature a starting lineup that includes four guards — Grady, senior Jon Axel Gudmundsson, senior KiShawn Pritchett and sophomore Luke Frampton, as well as sixth man Carter Collins. Gudmundsson, last season’s A-10 Player of the Year, is the only player in Wildcats history with at least 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists and spent much of the summer playing on the national team of his native Iceland.

Frampton, who led the A-10 in 3-pointers made (100) and per game (2.9), is out of the knee brace he wore after tearing an ACL before his true freshman season two years ago. McKillop said Frampton has dropped 12 pounds (to 205).

“Discarding the brace has given Luke more freedom — emotionally and physically,” McKillop said. “He’s going to be more physical; he’ll rebound and go to the rim more. He can’t stand outside the arc and just shoot 3-pointers any more.”

Man in the middle

Sophomore forward Luka Brajkovic was a revelation as a freshman, averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds. He displayed a variety of sophisticated low-post moves — but nobody accused him of being overly physical.

Brajkovic, a native of Austria, bulked up in the offseason, going from 220 to 248 pounds.

“Luca is stronger, more confident and much more rhythmic from a standpoint of how the college game is played in America,” McKillop said. “His positioning is better, and he’s holding that position significantly better.”

Most improved

Collins worked himself into more playing time as last season progressed. Although the starting lineup continues to be locked up this season, expect Collins to contribute even more as a valuable sixth man.

“Carter was easily our most improved player during the offseason,” McKillop said. “He’s been the most consistent player we have. He gets better every day, just a little step forward every day, in every aspect of his game.”

About that bench

McKillop admits that he relied too heavily on the starters last season, with no player after the first five and Collins averaging more than 8.8 minutes per game.

“That’s what happened and I understand the need to use our bench more, to really commit to that,” McKillop. “It’s on me to develop the bench.”

That would mean more minutes for players like guard David Czerapowicz and forwards Nelson Boachie-Yiadom and Bates Jones, as well as true freshmen forwards Hyunjung Lee and David Kristensen.

This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 4:08 PM.