DETROIT (10/15/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team officially kicked off the 2020-21 season with its first practice on Thursday.

"I am excited about it," said head men's basketball coach Mike Davis, who enters his third year with the team. "It has been a long time and a lot of uncertainty, but for us to be able to practice today is going to be good for our guys and it's just good to be back in the gym."

With the new COVID-19 protocols in place, teams will have 30 practices starting on Oct. 14 until the start of the regular season on Nov. 25. Prior to that, teams were allowed to participate in strength and conditioning and skill instruction for up to 12 hours per week from Sept. 21 to Oct. 13.

The Titans will have a 14-man roster this season and will have a blend of veterans and newcomers. Four graduate students are on the roster in returner Brad Calipari and transfers Marquell Fraser, Bul Kuol and Taurean Thompson. They join a pair of seniors in returner Dwayne Rose Jr. and transfer Matt Johnson.

The junior class is led by All-Horizon League standout and one of the top scorers in the nation in Antoine Davis, who was fourth in the country at 24.3 points per game last year and already is 13th in school history with 1,513 points. 

One of the most athletic players in the Horizon League is back in junior forward Chris Brandon, who was fifth in the HL with 8.1 rebounds per game and second in the league with 1.42 blocks per game and 44 total swats. Veteran Willy Isiani is also back to give his presence in the post as well as from outside the arc. 

"We are long, we are skilled, we are fast and we have a lot of good pieces and now it's just about us building the right kind of mindset to compete every game," said Davis. 

There will be five newcomers on the roster with Jamail Pink returning after an injury-riddled freshman season as well as transfer Noah Waterman and freshmen Caileb Brown, Kyle LeGreair and Joey Liedel. 

Everyone is currently practicing for the team, while the program waits for waivers for immediate eligibility for transfers Johnson and Waterman.