It was Sunday, March 8 when we last saw William and Mary basketball on the floor, in their heartbreaking 68-63 CAA quarterfinals loss to Elon. That feels like 40 years ago.
The world is much different now, in ways that I don’t feel the need to go over for everybody. My personal life is much different too — I graduated college, got a job, moved out on my own. (I also started this blog!)
Basketball is normalcy for me, though; it has always been a part of my life, and for the past four, going on five, years, it’s been William and Mary basketball. It feels good to have this back — I just hope we can do it safely. Frankly, given the way college basketball has gone so far this fall, I’m not sure it’s worth it.
But that’s a conversation for another time. Right now, it’s time to get the season started.
William and Mary Tribe @ Old Dominion Monarchs, 7 p.m.
Tale of the Tape
W&M (0-0) currently ranks 288th in KenPom, before playing any games — the Tribe’s adjusted offensive efficiency ranks 218th, while its adjusted defensive efficiency ranks 331st.
ODU (0-1) is currently 107th in KenPom’s rankings, with the 131st-best adjusted offensive efficiency and 91st adjusted defensive efficiency.
Our KYUSAG model gives the Tribe a 24.8% chance of pulling out the upset over the Monarchs tonight.
Projected Starters
W&M: G Luke Loewe (Sr.), G Thornton Scott (Jr.), G Connor Kochera (Fr.), F Quinn Blair (Jr.), F Mehkel Harvey (Jr.) I’m pretty confident about Loewe, Scott, and Blair, but W&M could start just about anybody in the other two spots. We shall see...
ODU: G Malik Curry (Sr.), G Xavier Green (Sr.), G A.J. Oliver (Jr.), F Joe Reece (Jr.), F Kalu Ezikpe (Jr.)
What to Watch For
The Tribe’s rotation is going to be much deeper than it has been in recent years. All 11 scholarship players will probably be given chances at one point or another in the season, which will be a far cry from the 7-man rotations we’ve gotten used to seeing in recent seasons … This year’s recruiting class of Yuri Covington, Jake Milkereit and Connor Kochera will all be thrown right into the fire right away, as will redshirt freshman Ben Wight. Milkereit might be a little limited early in the year (he suffered a torn ACL last January in his senior season of high school), but Fischer expects all four to contribute big-time. You’ll probably see all four tonight … Thornton Scott is healthy again and looking to come out of the gate as fast as he did last year. Before he got hurt in the fourth game of the season, Scott averaged 12.8 points per game and 4.3 assists … The CAA preseason poll wasn’t kind to W&M — the Tribe was voted last in the conference and Loewe was the only player on a preseason team, garnering an honorable mention.
Old Dominion is expected to be in contention in Conference USA, picked 5th in the preseason poll. The Monarchs are a typical Jeff Jones team: gritty and defensive-minded. They sometimes struggle offensively, but should be better on that side than they were last year … For ODU, senior guard Malik Curry is a good lefty point guard that can lock down on defense and get out in transition. The Monarchs struggle shooting the ball, but senior Xavier Green is the exception … One advantage ODU may have is inside, where junior Kalu Ezikpe had 19 points and 13 rebounds in their season opening loss against Maryland. Wight or Mehkel Harvey will have to step up for the Tribe … Last year, W&M beat ODU 63-46 at Kaplan Arena behind a balanced scoring attack. Nathan Knight had 14, Andy van Vliet had 13, and Luke Loewe had 12.
See y’all tonight at 7pm. I’m ready to go!