Gunning for wins (and Pistol Pete)

There’s a new must-listen show in the Field of 68’s podcasts — especially if you crave insider content.

The Atlantic 10 Insider podcast, featuring Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster, will cover the league all season and feature 1-on-1 interviews with players, coaches and A-10 administrators. It launches Thursday with a live show from A-10 media day.

Be sure to get it wherever you get your podcasts or listen to it on Atlantic10.com.

Let’s get to the news.

STARTING FIVE

1. Gunning for wins (and Pistol Pete)

College basketball doesn’t have a singular record. Some would point to UCLA’s 11 NCAA Tournament titles or the Bruins’ 88-game win streak as the most identifiable stats, but those are team stats.

Among individual marks, two stand out: Pete Maravich’s career 44.2 points per game and his 3,667 career points. The former is unapproachable, even with a 3-point line. The sheer shot volume required to average 40 a game, let alone 45 isn’t feasible.

And the latter number? That’s in sight for Antoine Davis. It would take a remarkable season, but it’s remarkable he’s even in a position to make a run at Pistol Pete.

Davis is 933 points away from the career mark. In four seasons, he’s scored 2,734 points, which is a school record and 22nd in NCAA history. At his career average of 24.6 points per game, he’ll surpass 3,000 points in early December. Over 30 games, he’d end up about 200 points shy of Maravich — meaning a higher average (like 28 a game) and playing into March would make the difference between second and immortality. It’s possible — 21 players have surpassed 933 points in a single season — but not his focus.

“I think about it,” the Detroit Mercy senior told me earlier this week. “Obviously, I’m gonna move up the scoring ladder. But it’s not my focus. I’m putting all my individual stuff on the side for this team. Knowing that I have the possibility is in my mind, but it’s not the main goal. The goal has always been to get to the NCAA tournament and win there.”

Coincidently, Maravich also never made the Big Dance. But his LSU teams were more of a curiosity to showcase his singular skills, not to win games. Davis, who has been at Detroit for four seasons and elected to return for a fifth after exploring the transfer portal, only has winning on his mind. Says Davis: “I have a green light, but even coming close to something like [what Maravich did] is crazy.”

A tournament berth wouldn’t be a small thing, either. The Titans have just one winning season since Mike Davis, Antoine’s dad, took over in 2019, and that was a 12-10 record during the COVID-shortened year. (As The Almanac explains, Davis’ tenure was hamstrung until 2021.) With the Horizon League’s best player surrounded by an upgraded, athletic roster, an NCAA tourney berth is a possibility.

“We have to be more in sync than we have been,” Antoine says. “That means we have to be locked in and focused on defense and working the ball around more on offense.”

Even if that means scoring less?

“I’ll always let the game come to me. I’ll never try to force anything,” he says. “I know what the record would mean, but that’s a lot of points in a season. If I end up being second or third or whatever, I’ll be good with that.”

2. The best of Big Ten media day

For media members who elected not to trek to Minneapolis, or if you’re just a fan, here’s a rundown of what caught my attention during Tuesday’s session (more interviews will happen today).

• This candid response from Purdue coach Matt Painter was the attention grabber, probably because most people would agree. (This line? Also a gem.)

• Without Kofi Cockburn, Illinois coach Brad Underwood doesn’t sleep as well. But he is excited about the idea of “position-less” basketball.

• Purdue’s got another 7-footer behind Zach Edey. (But hey, readers of The Almanac already knew that.)

• On that note, Edey swears he’s as tall as Victor Wembanyama. It’s the shoes.

• Kris Murray is in the best shape of his life.

• Chris Collins with the quote of the day: “This year will be a new age of Big Ten basketball.” (But will it be the last year for Collins?)

• Steve Pikiell thinks Rutgers, with its experience, is in good shape to make its third consecutive NCAA Tournament.

• You wanna coach at Maryland? Better know how to eat crabcakes. And how to crack crab. Let Kevin Willard explain.

• Peep the threads Trayce Jackson-Davis wore.

Need more? Our guy John Fanta has some good takeaways over at Fox Sports.

3. Oscar Tshiebwe to have ‘minor’ procedure

Any pessimistic Kentucky fans should skip this tweet about Oscar Tshiebwe.

Any October medical procedures involving the reigning National Player of the Year is worth noting. One could argue there isn’t a bigger story entering the season if the nation’s leading rebounder is dealing with “knee stuff” because those are the types of lingering injuries that can take months to resolve.

But it’s worth taking this at face value and not blowing it out of proportion, especially when we know Tshiebwe’s focused on a national title and not much else this year. A patient coach and medical staff can resolve knee problems given enough time. Just ask Remy Martin how it worked out for him last season.

4. Surgery complications sideline Duquesne point guard

Apropos of nothing, Duquesne reportedly won’t have FIU transfer Tevin Brewer for an undetermined amount of time due to severe complications following an appendectomy.

The point guard was released Tuesday after nine days in the hospital. Typical recovery from an appendectomy is 1-2 days in the hospital, usually depending on if they had an open appendectomy (probably if it ruptured), or Laparoscopic, which is a much smaller incision.

Brewer averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 assists and 3 rebounds a game, shot 38 percent from beyond the arc last season and started 66 games in three seasons at FIU. He’s expected to start for the Dukes.

5. This is a hoot

Rice is coming off back-to-back winning seasons. And this seems like a good omen for 2022-23.

This is a significant commitment for Scott Pera’s program. Keanu Dawes is a 6-8 forward who’s a consensus 4-star recruit and is the highest-ranked prospect to commit to the school since 247 started keeping track. He’s their first 2023 commit and could help lure other impact players to the Owls. He chose Rice over Oklahoma State, Texas, Utah, Texas A&M and BYU, among others.

Dawes will be a starter from Day 1 with Rice, who says he’s focused on developing and getting to the NBA.

Also on the recruiting front:

• St. Bonaventure added Miles Rose, a 6-5 guard in the class of 2023.

• Fordham picked up Alex Bates, a 6-5 guard in the class of 2023.

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you watch old episodes of Murder, She Wrote on YouTube.

• AAC media days kick off today in Irving, Texas. You can watch it here. Thursday’s stream is here.

• J’Vonne Hadley tried D1 hoops once, but it didn’t work. He’s ready the second time around, this time at Colorado.

• UCLA will sell beer and wine at Pauley Pavilion for men’s and women’s games this season.

• Former Seton Hall forward Ike Obiagu decided basketball wasn’t for him and took a job with Ernst & Young.

• Former VCU star Rob Brandenberg was reported missing on Monday. More info on that here.

THE DTF PODCAST

For once, words fail the DTF crew

We’ll take a slight diversion today because our guys Terrence Oglesby, Rob Dauster and John Fanta are still agape at what Victor Wembanyama did last week in two games against the G-League Ignite. (Scoot Henderson also crushed it, btw.)

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube and subscribe to the DTF podcast.

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