As seniors Antoine Davis and Willy Isiani prepare for graduation, they’re also preparing for what’s next in their basketball stories.
Davis and Isiani arrived on Detroit Mercy’s McNichols campus together during the 2018-19 season, the
same year Head Coach Mike Davis, Antoine Davis’s father, took over the program.
The younger Davis would have a stellar first year, breaking the NCAA freshman 3-point record previous-
ly held by sharpshooter Stephen Curry, who has since gone on to be an eight-time NBA All-Star and the NBA’s all-time 3-point record-hold- er.
Isiani would play twelve games his freshman season and start five
of them; the multi-sport high school athlete would have impressive performances like scoring 14 points in the Horizon League quarter-finals against NKU.
Their collegiate careers, howev– er, were upended by the onset of
the coronavirus pandemic, which affected multiple seasons with can- cellations, reschedulings and players sitting out after being exposed to the virus.
“Many games were canceled last year, and some were canceled this year which hurt us,” Isiani said. “We had a really good chance of becom- ing a top-four team in the division, and it could’ve been a different dynamic for us. But overall, how the team handled everything, I think we handled it pretty well.”
Although much was out of their
control, what was still in their con– trol was the end goal of graduating. Davis will be receiving his bach-
elor’s degree in Communications while Isiani will receive a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. But both players aren’t done with basketball just yet.
Isiani plans to continue his ath- letic career by playing professional basketball overseas.
“Right now, I’m in contact with different agencies, and as of right now, I’m still not sure which country it will be, but most likely it will be Spain,” he said. “I’m hoping that’s the case because I’ve played in Spain for four years before coming to the states, so I already know what kind of basketball is played and the environment.”
While Isiani’s plan is nearly final, there isn’t a final word yet on Davis, who earlier this year became the Titans’ all-time leading scorer.
“I’ll have my answer by the end of the term,” he said. “I know people are anxious, and I’ve been asked many times what am I going to do next, but I’m going to take my time to see if going pro is the best deci- sion or [if I’ll be] staying here one more year.”
The third senior on this year’s team, guard Matt Johnson, did not respond to requests for comment.
All three were given a special video tribute during the last game of the regular season at Calihan Hall against Purdue Fort Wayne. This year’s team finished 14-16 overall, including 10-7 in their conference.
