Unfinished business

With its star player returning for one final run at a NCAA Tournament appearance, the University of Detroit Mercy men’s basketball team has high expectations for the 2022-23 season.

The team was picked to finish sixth overall in the Horizon League’s preseason poll, but Head Coach Mike Davis said the team can out- perform that forecast.

“We are looking forward to mak- ing it into the top four spots in our league, or even better,” he told The Varsity News.”

The Titans are welcoming three freshmen and six new transfers who Davis said will give the team a new look.

“We have more than just one ball-handler, when [in prior years] we felt like we only really had one or two ball-handlers,” he said. “Now, we have about three or four who can play point guard or shooting guard, making our play much faster in pace and speed. This will help us in the Horizon League, which should be pretty competitive this year with the off-season signees from the transfer portal.”

Antoine Davis, the coach’s son, is playing in his fifth year for the Titans after flirting with leaving via the transfer portal this summer. Davis was picked last month

as the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year and has already re-written the Titan and NCAA record books.

In his freshman season, he set the NCAA record for most 3-pointers made by a rookie in a season, which was previously held by NBA superstar Stephen Curry. Last year, Davis passed Titan legend Rashad Phillips to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Now he’s looking to climb the NCAA’s all-time scoring record list.

Barring injury, it’s possible Davis, who has 2,734 points, could reach the No. 2 spot, although it may be tough to beat the record holder, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, who scored 3,667 total points in his college career.

“We have been looking really good in practice, and I am really excited for our team this season,” Antoine Davis told The VN. “Our primary goal is to make it to the conference tournament and win. Not far from that, hoping to make it to the NCAA tournament as well. We just keep getting better...our chemistry with this team is an all-new sensation.”

The Titans open the season Nov. 8 against Rochester at Calihan Hall.