Looking at these rosters, you’d never guess which William & Mary basketball program it was that underwent a coaching change last season. On the men’s side, the Tribe returns just four players from last year’s team, welcoming in five transfers and five freshmen. Meanwhile, the women’s squad lost three players, two of whom didn’t play at all last year due to injury. (The other – Kate Sramac – is still around as a grad assistant.)
Surprisingly, it’s Erin Dickerson-Davis who’s entering her first year as the head coach of the W&M women’s program, and Dane Fischer who returns for his fourth go-around as the men’s coach.
That dichotomy was very apparent last week during CAA media days, with preseason all-CAA first team guard Sydney Wagner joining Dickerson-Davis during the women’s session, compared to Fischer and Tribe center Ben Wight having to answer plenty of questions about a newly constructed squad.
And yet, even though they approach it on very different trajectories, each team finds itself in roughly the same spot when it comes to external expectations in the conference. CAA rivals picked the Tribe men to finish eighth in the league, and the women seventh.
On the men’s side, the biggest constant (figuratively, but also literally) is Wight. He was the most improved Tribe player last year and turned into one of the better offensive bigs in the conference. Wight wasn’t dominant, but he was more dependable than anyone else, especially through the last two months of the season. To be fair, that was a low bar to clear.
But aside from Wight, sophomore guard Tyler Rice, and reserves Jake Milkereit and Miguel Ayesa, there’s a whole lot of uncertainty that drops W&M right in the middle of the CAA preseason rankings. Five transfers – grad guards Anders Nelson and Chris Mullins, sophomore guards Matteus Case and Gabe Dorsey, and junior forward Noah Collier – and three scholarship freshmen – guard Chase Lowe, forward Jack Karasinski, and center Charlie Williams – arrive to ensure this year’s Tribe looks much different from last year’s, at least in terms of personnel.
It’s not uncertainty on the court that finds the women’s team in the same spot – it’s on the bench.
Nearly everyone returns from last year’s Tribe, including Wagner and her preseason all-CAA first-teammate Riley Casey, but it’s Dickerson-Davis running the show. Dickerson-Davis, or “Coach E,” has hinted that while the roster may read mostly the same, the style of play will not.
W&M ranked 249th in the country last season in pace, averaging 68.5 possessions per game – you can assume that number will rise rapidly if what Dickerson-Davis says is to be believed. Expect threes to be shot. Lots of them.
That’s great news for Wagner and Casey, who love to let it go from deep. Last year, each ranked in the 99th percentile of three-point attempts per game. Wagner had a down year last season, hitting just 28.2% of her attempts from long range compared to Casey’s 37.6%, but that hasn’t stopped Dickerson-Davis from continuing to encourage her to shoot. All in all, that should be the correct move, as Wagner hit 39.8% of threes on even higher volume the previous season.
The other question is if Dickerson-Davis will be able to get the best out of the supporting cast, which often struggled to support Wagner and Casey offensively. A versatile player like senior forward Bre Bellamy, who can defend and turn it into offense in transition, should be an easy pick to break out.
One would hope Dickerson-Davis’ new scheme, and new energy around the women’s program, can help an experienced group find another gear. Just as one would hope an influx of new talent can help Fischer and the men’s team rebound from a terrible season.
We don’t know yet, but that uncertainty is what makes sports great. And In just over two weeks, we’ll be in Kaplan Arena, to get our first taste of what these teams are.
Can’t wait.