Three years ago a former encyclopedia salesman was hired to take over an up and down program overshadowed by the big boys from the ACC who at one point shared the same stomping grounds of the SoCon with Davidson and their brethren.  It was perfect timing for the charismatic recruiting genius who put together an elite program. Most of the ACC schools would be happy with this group as Driesell boasted his team could and would take on any team in the country.  This boisterousness helped promote the team and the conference and he did schedule many ACC schools with some mixed results but for some reason Davidson could not seem to get over the hump in their own conference.  Sure, they won a regular season title but have kept losing in the conference tourney and did not get to go dancing.   We all know Driesell left for the bright lights of the ACC and did the same thing for the Terrapins of Maryland as he did here.  He called the Terps the ‘UCLA of the East Coast’ and just like here had the media and fans paying attention until of course it all came falling down like a House of Cards (and not due to the leading man’s past history).  With all of the hyperbole Davidson still has not made the splash they wanted on the national level and had still not won a conference tourney championship getting upset on three different occasions (heck they have only been to the championship game once with this great senior class).  Time is up for these seniors and it was put up or shut up and Coach Bob McKillop has one season under his belt to get to know these kids and is ready to take them to the next level. This silver haired fox has a few tricks up his sleeve and he proved that Lefty was not the only guy who could recruit some studs to come play at Davidson. But after last year’s debacle against the aforementioned team from VMU in the conference tourney this team is not taking any chance of getting an invite to the Big Dance. Davidson went 23-5 last year and were 25-6 at the time of the selection show yet still did not get an at large berth to the Big Dance. The committee said that strength of schedule was the primary reason this program got left out in the cold so McKillop and his AD have put together the finest schedule in the land.  They not only play all four ACC powerhouses from their Tar Heel State (North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest and Duke) but they also have the likes of St. John’s, Kansas and rivals South Carolina, Charlotte and Virginia Tech.  There take on anyone anywhere approach is even going so far (and we do mean far) as to travel cross-country all the way to San Francisco to take place in the Cable Car Classic.  Of course, now they got to compete in those games and hope they don’t get taken behind the wood shed by these much bigger schools.  With the senior class that is returning that is highly unlikely to happen.  And did we tell you McKillop has brought in some stud recruits of his own. 

Coach McKillop’s Davidson team comes into this season with high hopes with the stellar returning class. Going into this season there is a trio of senior studs who were looking to finally lead this team to the promised-land.  The NIT has been good to Davidson but these kids want the recognition they deserve.  McKillop will be lucky to be able to count on a great post combination in seniors Mike Maloy and Fred Hetzel once again not to mention a superior wing in Dick Snyder.  This post duo forms an almost perfect center-power forward combo.  Why it is not exactly Olojowon-Hayes or Alcindor-Walton or Mikan/Cummings it is pretty dang special especially for this undersized league.  Hetzel is not big for a post but in the SoCon six eight and 220 is almost Sampsonian.  He is a gifted low post scorer and a solid rebounder but can also finish from the wings and has range up to about 18 feet though that is not the best part of his game.  This DC kid was a monster recruit for Driesell and has produced three solid seasons. He comes into this season as the go to guy and preseason favorite to not only earn an All-American slot but the co-favorite with Frank Selvy to win league MVP.   He can do a little bit of everything on the court and has a wealth talent, so much so scouts are saying he could easily go in the top five in next year’s draft.  Hetzel might not have got the recognition he deserves but real fans understand how dynamic this kid is. He has only one thing missing on his college resume and everyone that is associated with Davidson knows what that is.   

If you think that getting Hetzel was huge then getting Maloy to come down to Davidson was a coup.  Driesell had heard from scout Howard Garfinkel (not Art’s brother) about this six seven kid from New York City who could flat jump out of the gym but was going to become a Jehovah’s Witness instead of going to college.  He got in his car and convinced the kid to come down to North Carolina and take the SAT.  Well, he got a 1300 on it and was soon enrolled but there was one other issue.  Maloy was going to become the first black athlete at this small southern University.  Of course this was no problem for Lefty but for Mike, well, this kid is pure charisma.  He soon became one of the most liked students on campus with a constant smile and that was before he got on the court.  There he was a dominant player who soon was chucking everything that came his way back at the shooter. And that does not even include his ever developing offensive game.  He was way more athletic than anybody this program has ever seen and soon developed some great chemistry with his sidekick in crime down low, Hetzel.  Mike is more of a blue-collar player than Fred though both do the dirty work on the boards.  Maloy is not quite as progressed as Hetzel on the offensive end and he relies on his toughness and athleticism to create shots in the paint.  He bangs inside for position and used his smarts and leaping ability to score.  He is a terrific rebounder for his size, trying Hetzel for the team lead at nine a game.  He can also pass well out of the double teams and can run the court.  His averages went up last year as he got over 11 points a game and though he is not as much on the radar as Hetzel will get a chance to play at the next level.  Somewhere!  Even if he has to go overseas!  He loves to play and his smile lights up the campus and the team and this poetry spewing kid has a bright future. There is no better post combo on a small program in the country.  Someday soon his # 15 will be hanging next to Hetzel’s 44 on the rafters at Belk as both of these studs have earned that right!  Two other seniors, Rod Knowles and Doug Cook, gives the team a solid substitute off the bench.  They don’t drop too much when he is in especially defensively and on the boards and he is bigger and can handle large centers better.  The Southern Conference does not have many dominant seven footers so Davidson were not hurt there but the lack of size from Hetzel and Maloy sometimes hurt against stiffer competition.  Knowles has become used to being a bench player as he understands his role well and gets the job done on a team that is set up front.  He even went into last year as the number four guy up front as legendary Hobby Cobb was the first guy off the bench.  Cobb was way overmatched and too small for the teams they were playing and McKillop soon put him out to pasture. At one point he was a huge scorer and board guy for Davidson but that seems like forever ago. Cook also got some minutes off the bench and is another undersized bull who is extremely strong and knows how to get position with his girth but is limited athletically.  Like Knowles, Cook has accepted being a bench player here and is the type of physical beat every team needs to keep things honest around the hoop.  Bill Jarman and Tom Youngdale are two other seniors who got some limited minutes as McKillop went for broke and did not play any underclassmen up front!  That could change this year but highly unlikely with that quartet of studs coming back. 

The unsung leader of Davidson is the soft-spoken Snyder.  He was another great recruit for Driesell coming from North Canton Ohio after a stellar prep career in three sports.  An All-American quarterback who was heavily recruited by Woody Hayes to go to The Ohio State (not The Citadel) and he was a gifted baseball player.  How he got this kid to forego a football scholarship to one of the top programs in the country in his backyard and come play basketball at this ultra-small College three states removed is anybody’s guess but that is why they call Driesell the magic recruiter (amongst other not so friendly monikers).  Lefty promised Dick that he could play baseball (center field and pitcher) for Davidson as well as basketball which he has done all three years.  So, yes, Lefty beat Woody for this extremely talented kid and I do not think Snyder has regretted it for a minute!  A six foot five wing, who has a jump shot ‘softer than a Carolina sunrise’ according to one sportswriter, Snyder immediately became a huge part of Davidson team.  There are not many wings who can routinely get their shot off against just about anybody they are playing against but Snyder is one of those.  He also brings a little bit of that football mentality onto the court as he is not afraid to run somebody over or box out a bigger man for a board.  He is strong and plays with a passion and a purpose you usually see on the gridiron.  But he is also fast (he ran a 10.3 100 as a freshman) and can fill the fast break lanes with the best of them.  And, yes, he can jump as shown by beating the school’s top triple jumper by two feet just for kicks.  He might not look it with his short brown slicked down hair and burrowing eyebrows but number 10 for Davidson is a tremendous physical specimen who really can do anything he sets his mind to.  Beyond his pure athleticism and toughness he understands how this game is played.  He is a student of the game and has the same kind of basketball .I. Q. as a Bill Bradley or a Larry Bird.  He may not be as talented as them but he is not far behind.  Nobody can stop him when he receives a pass off a screen and rises up way above is defender and softly floats one of his patented jump shots towards the hoop.  The only thing he does not have with that jump shot is consistent three point range as he would rather shoot 15 to 18 footers but he realizes that is how the game is played and is evolving.  He can also pass though he is most definitely not a point guard as his handles are limited.   On this team he mainly had to guard small forwards or big athletic two guards but he handled that well as he is definitely big, strong and quick enough to handle it.  His ability to shut down the other team’s best wing (ask Thompson and Jordan about this) was so important to this team it cannot be undervalued.  He might be better suited as a two at the pros but wherever he plays he will continue to be a primary shooter.  Oh and he shoots at an extremely high rate for a jump shooter hitting over 52 percent of his shots and almost a 90 percent free throw shooter.  And yes he can get to the hoop but he is better suited coming through with huge jumpers when needed.  

Davidson also had a great group of guards to complement their great front court.  The fourth wheel to this almost perfectly symmetrical lineup is Junior John Gerdy.  Gerdy is a smooth scorer from the perimeter and can also get to the hoop and finish or get fouled.  Gerdy has great range which he has improved dramatically since the three has become the vogue shot in today’s basketball world.  Ask App State and VMI about that as he scored a combined 54 points in back to back games on the road late in the year when everyone else was struggling to lead them to wins they needed over bottom feeders in the SoCon.  He has one more year of playing with those seniors who have welcomed him into their crew and like them knows this is the year.  

 Sophomore Derek ‘Don’t call me Hootie’ Rucker made a big impact with his desire and court savvy in the backcourt.  Rucker is the starting point guard going into this year and fits in well with his more experienced teammates.  He is solid on both ends and can score as well but gave up much of this to be a team player.  When you have four studs around you like he does you got to understand where your bread is buttered.  But one thing it helped is this kid’s shooting percentage as he shot 44% from behind the arc with all of the attention being paid to his teammates.  If he continues to perform as he did in his first year and improves a bit on the defensive end, this starting five really could hang with those ACC teams.  

McKillop likes to use as many players as possible to establish depth and keep his players fresh but he did not have near the talent off the bench as he did with his synchronized starting five. Senior Jerry Kroll was the first man off the bench and might be again as he does everything well on the wing.  A 6’4 gamer from Hunter’s Creek Texas brings toughness and skill and should continue to contribute to this machine.  Fellow senior Buddy Cheek began the year as a starter but went down early and got a gray shirt year.  That by no means he will get his job back.  Most of the rest of upperclassmen were not quite up to par so McKillop went with some underclassmen to give his great starting five rest and fill specific roles. A trio of juniors wings bounced between JV and varsity and are hoping to battle for minutes again this winter.  John Falconi, Greg Dunn and especially Bryan Adrian showed great promise in their limited minutes.  Adrian can flat light it up and was even tried at point but is better suited scoring. These guys can play showing the depth of this program but might have to wait until next year to get real minutes.  Sophomore Kenny Wilson also got some productive minutes on the JV squad in his first year as well and plays a true three. He is a good scorer but is a slasher and will be battling for time this year. He might be stuck on the JV again as he needs to improve his long game because Davidson is going to shoot a truck load of threes this year. Speaking of the JV, sophomore post players Todd Haynes and Clffi Tribus have some size and played well on a dominant JV team.  Haynes has a shot especially if one of the starters went down but both look to be playing with Wilson and sixth man extraordinaire Jeff Himes who actually led the team in scoring.  There is a heavy need for this program to upgrade their quickness in the backcourt and McKillop wants more long-range shooting and they have recruited accordingly. 

The Davidson Wildcats are famous for developing young people to enter the world.  They also have a nice reputation for Rhodes Scholar winners.  Coach Bob McKillop with a nice assist from Lefty Driesell has put together enough talent to be the dominant team in the Southern Conference.  The next step is finally achieving this year what has alluded this mid-major powerhouse for far too long.  Blessed with one of the best symmetrical teams ever put together Davidson is a dynamic team that you should know about.  Huge upset losses in the SoCon tourney have kept them not only out of the Big Dance but out of the national spotlight.  This team will face an extremely tough out of conference schedule with the hopes that if they do lose again they will still get an at large berth to the Big Dance and of course gets some eyes to see them on the boob tube.  They also fully understand that the best route to getting to the Big Dance is just winning the SoCon tourney.  That is Goal # 1!!!