INDIANAPOLIS – The ingredients for a memorable run in 2016-17 is certainly in place when looking at the prospective outlook for Davis & Elkins.
It starts with the coaching from second-year man Nick Patella and his staff. Even just watching one practice or one game in person is an impressive display of infectious passion, enthusiasm and teaching that Patella transfers to his players.
A second year in Patella’s system could make all the difference to an athletic and talented group starting the year ranked fourth in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour.
D&E will be on the road early and often to begin the season and that includes a trip out to Denver, Colo., against top-flight RMAC opponents.
“I don’t schedule anybody that I don’t think isn’t going to be the best test for us at the time,” Patella said. “I want to schedule the West Libs (Liberty), the Fairmont States and on the road at Cal early to build a toughness. We’re excited where the league is headed and we’re hoping to build it up.”
Senior swingman Kevin Bracy-Davis is a unique talent worth the price of admission. At 6-7, his Kevin Durant-like frame poses matchup problems for opponents everywhere on the floor. He glides in transition, crashes the boards like a forward and is one of the league’s best shot swatters.
With the graduation of 2015-16 G-MAC Player of the Year Byron Sanford of Trevecca Nazarene, Bracy-Davis is a name that immediately jumps to the forefront as player of the year material.
Despite missing a handful of games due to injury, Bracy-Davis averaged 19.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and over a block per game. He also shot over 56 percent from the field and over 43 percent from deep.
At 1,006 points in his career to date, he is poised to leap over Sanford, Marcus Reineke, Malcolm Tatum and Thylas Perkins, to be second in conference history in career scoring.
“I’m pretty excited about my senior year,” Bracy-Davis said. “I feel like we are the team to beat in my eyes and I think we are underappreciated being picked fourth. I think we should be higher than that. Coach Patella is a great guy; it’s going to be a special year, I really believe that.”
The Senators laid claim to the G-MAC Freshman of the Year with sophomore guard Kevin Simpson at the controls of the offense from the onset. He averaged 12,7 points per game and that scoring output jumped to 14 in conference play.
Simpson is just part of the wave of the future being stockpiled through Patella’s path on the recruiting trail. He imported six more freshmen this season.
Sophomores Jordan McElveen (7.5 ppg), T.J. Owens (7.6 ppg) and Edmund Parker (8.4), all saw rotational minutes as rookies and it will be interesting to monitor their develop after making contributions this early in their career. Marcel Rice II also played in 22 games in his first year at the college level.
One of the league’s best bigs, Rickenjee Belleveue, averaged almost eight points and eight rebounds per game. He also averaged over a block per contest and could really round into form with the departure of glass eater Alex Vasiljevic
Two key graduations from a year ago were Vasiljevic, a big-bodied forward who finished his career as the G-MAC’s all-time leading rebounder, and Wesley Sprinkle, another double-digit point scorer at 12.5.