DETROIT (11/4/2023) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team will officially start its 118th season on the road as the Titans visit Toledo on Monday.
Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Watch ESPN App. Fans can also listen to the action on the radio on WLQV 92.7 FM & 1500 AM FaithTalk Detroit with the Voice of Detroit Mercy basketball Dan Hasty.
The Titans have had a great history of starting with a win as they are 82-34 all-time on opening day, with two years in the early 1900's unknown due to record keeping.
Detroit Mercy comes into the season looking to replace four starters, including the two-time Horizon League Player of the Year and the NCAA second leading scorer of all-time
Antoine Davis, as the Titans welcome back five letterwinners from a year ago to go with 11 newcomers.
The game is the first of 11 non-conference games, with several against multi-bid leagues, and four with teams that reached the postseason last year. Nine of the 11 contests will have the Titans on the road as the red, white and blue face teams from the AAC, ACC, BIG 10, SEC and the WCC, among others. The 11 foes totaled a 202-161 (55.6%) record last season, with four making postseason trips in NC State (NCAA), Northwestern (NCAA), Toledo (NIT), and Cincinnati (NIT).
The game against the Rockets is a familiar match-up in the 62nd all-time meeting between the two schools, which is tied with Michigan State for the 10th most against any opponent in school history. It is also tied for second with MSU and trailing only the 79 games against Eastern Michigan against an opponent who has never been a league rival.
Following the game, the Titans will stay on the road as they travel to Cincinnati on Friday.
ALL-TIME SERIES
- The match-up between the Titans and Rockets is the 62nd in this rivalry that dates back to 1920, as Toledo leads the all-time series, 36-25.
- Detroit Mercy has dropped five in a row in the battle with the last victory a 75-72 triumph in 2015, and is 7-22 all-time on the road, falling in the last three meetings and last winning at Savage Arena, 82-79, in 2014.
LAST MEETING VS. TOLEDO
- Kevin McAdoo netted 21 points and Antoine Davis had 21 as well to go with six boards, a team-high four assists and two steals as Detroit Mercy fell, 81-73, at Toledo.
- McAdoo was 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from three with three assists, while Madut Akec tallied 15 points - all in the second half - with seven rebounds, two assists and a team-best two blocks.
- The Rockets led 50-39 in the second half, but the Titans shaved that all the way down to three, 52-49, going a 10-2 run with 11:40 left. Toledo would stop that and increase its lead to double digits again, but the red, white and blue would stay in it until a Rockets' run pushed the advantage all the way to 72-58, late in the contest. Ryan Rollins had a team-high 19 points and JT Shumate had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
I KNOW YOU
- Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk knows Detroit Mercy well as he spent eight years as head coach at Horizon League member Green Bay from 2002-10 before taking the job at Toledo, and has a 15-12 all-time record against the Titans.
AGAINST THE MAC
- Detroit Mercy is 184-125 all-time against current members of the MAC and has won three of the last four over the league.
- On the road, though, the Titans have dropped 11 of their last 13 MAC games since the 2015-16 season, with wins at Western Michigan during the 2020-21 campaign and at Eastern Michigan in the 2017-18 season.
LOOKING FOR THAT ROAD OPENING WIN
- The Titans are 16-66 all-time in road openers since 1932 and have dropped 22 straight road openers, with the last true road win at Chicago State, 87-65, in 2000-01.
- Detroit Mercy is also looking for its first season-opening win away from Calihan Hall since the 2006-07 season when they beat Maine, 57-50, at Marquette in the CBE Classic.
WIN #411 & COUNTING
- Head coach Mike Davis earned his first triumph as a head coach on Nov. 14, 2000, when his Indiana Hoosiers defeated Pepperdine, 80-68, in Bloomington.
- Last season, he won his 400th career game in the 70-49 victory over Charlotte at Calihan Hall.
- He now has 411 career wins, 142nd in DI NCAA history, one away from 141st and Mike Deane.
- Davis is one of nine current coaches to win 100 games at three different schools (Indiana, UAB, Texas Southern).
ALL IN THE FAMILY
- Nothing new for the Titans to have a family connection in the program and this season, Detroit Mercy will once again feature a pair of Davis' in head coach Mike Davis and assistant coach Mike Davis Jr.
- For the last five years, Antoine Davis joined his dad and his brother on the team as a student-athlete and became one of the greatest scorers in NCAA history.
- From 2010-13, the Titans had head coach Ray McCallum and star guard Ray McCallum, winning the HL title in 2012 and earning a trip to the NIT in 2013.
- Also, the legendary Bob Calihan coached his son, Bob Calihan Jr., for one season as he transferred to U-D from Loyola for his senior season in 1968-69.
- The current father-son coaching player duo is part of seven in DI.
FROM ALL OVER
- Detroit Mercy's roster features student-athletes from five states (Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Maryland, Indiana) and five countries (Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Italy).
- Edoardo Del Cadia is believed to be the first Titan from Italy, while Jayden Stone is the first Titan from Australia and Alex Tchikou the first from France.
WHO ARE THESE GUYS
- Detroit Mercy will have to replace four starters, including the two-time Horizon League Player of the Year Antoine Davis.
- The Titans welcome back just five letterwinners from a year ago and one starter in Jayden Stone, who missed the second semester.
- With those returners, the Titans bring back just 19% of minutes played (1,273/6,650) and 11.9% of points scored (302/2,527) from a year ago, some of the lowest amounts in the nation.
HIGHLY THOUGHT OF
- Detroit Mercy has a few players who were highly thought of coming out of high school.
- Alex Tchikou was a four-star prospect by Rivals, 247sports and ESPN out of high school, ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 36 overall player and the No. 6 power forward in the 2020 class, while 247sports has him at No. 58 overall and No. 11 at his position and ESPN.com No. 56 nationally and No. 11 power forward.
- Emmanuel Kuac was a top-five prospect in Canada, a three-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals and ranked as the No. 5 player in his class in Utah by 247Sports.
- Donovann Toatley was named one of the D.C. area's top playmakers by prephoops.com and the No. 8 point guard per BigShots.net in DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) while also listed as DMVelite 18 standout.
- Ryan Hurst finished fifth in the state for the Mr. Basketball award and was a Division 1 First Team All-State selection by the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.
- Oton Jankovic was ranked the No. 21 overall player in the state of Florida and the 57th-best power forward in the nation by 24/7 Sports.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS
- The Titans contain a few family connections that have played college and professional sports.
- Edoardo Del Cadia's dad was a pro basketball player in Italy
- Kyle LeGreair's God brother is Chris Douglas-Roberts, who played college basketball at Memphis.
- Mak Manciel's dad played college basketball at Central Michigan.
- Jayden Stone's dad played college basketball at Cal State Northridge.
- Abdullah Olajuwon's dad is Hakeem Olajuwon, who played 18 years in the NBA, winning two championships with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995 before being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016
- Ryan Hurst's cousin, Jaden Hardy, was drafted in the 2022 NBA Draft in the second round by the Sacramento Kings and currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks.
- Trenton Johnson's dad played college basketball at Tennessee State
- Tyree Davis' dad, Ricky Davis, played 12 years in the NBA and averaged 13.5 points per game, including a career-high 20.6 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002-03.
- Tobin Schwannecke's two older brothers ran track at Wagner and Michigan.
ONE DAVIS OWNS THE DINNER TABLE
- Head coach Mike Davis is quick to point out that former Titan Antoine Davis is not the defender that he was in college, but in terms of offense, the son has won the battle.
- Coach Davis starred at Alabama from 1979 to 1983 and totaled 1,211 points in 121 career games, going 478-of-1003 (47.7%) from the field with 238 assists.
- Antoine finished his career with 3,664 career points, second in NCAA history and just three shy of Pete Maravich's record 3,667, with 594 assists and 181 steals.
- Compared to his brother, current assistant coach Mike Davis Jr., Antoine has him beat as well as he recorded 143 career points, 33 assists and 25 steals in three seasons at UAB from 2006-09.
THE PRESEASON
- The stats didn't count, but the lone preseason game was the 5th Annual City College Series against Wayne State.
- The Titans fell to the Warriors, 88-78, but with 1,011 people in attendance, the game made $2,022 in ticket sales. With a matching donation from Michigan First Credit Union, over $4,000 will be donated to Detroit Public Schools, K-5. In the five-year history of the event, Detroit Mercy and Michigan First Credit Union have now teamed to raise nearly $35,000.
- Senior Jayden Stone posted 34 points and 11 rebounds to go with three steals, a block and an assist as he was 12-of-25 from the field. Graduate senior Donovann Toatley scored 10 points, while sophomore Marcus Tankersley had 10 points, two rebounds and two steals.
COACH WILLIAMS MAKES HISTORY
- The Detroit Mercy men's basketball team hired its first female assistant coach in school history in former local high school standout coach Jerica Williams.
- She is one of 31 women on DI MBB staffs in positions of leadership directly working with the players, although she is the only coach in Division I who has on-the-court instruction and recruiting duties.
- Williams will serve as assistant coach and Chief of Staff.
- She was the girls' basketball head coach at Detroit Country Day from 2020-2022, where she was named back-to-back Coach of the Year in her first two years as a head coach while leading her team to back-to-back MSHAA Final Fours, before becoming Girls' Basketball Program Lead at the Windward School in Los Angeles, California. In the off-season, she continued working with NBA players on and off the court.
- Prior to that, she served as an Assistant Coach at Cal State Northridge from 2019-2020 and was the Chief of Staff at her alma mater, San Diego State in 2018-19.
- Williams played collegiate basketball from 2006-2010 at UCLA and San Diego State, where she was part of two Mountain West Conference championship teams along with two NCAA appearances. Prior to college, she led her high school team to four straight CIF championships, winning 3 in a row. Recognized as San Diego Section Player of the Year during her stint, she was inducted into Mount Miguel High School's Hall of Fame in 2018.
GOOD DAY MATE
- Senior Jayden Stone started all 13 games he saw action in a year ago - missing the second semester - and tallied 13.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, hitting 49.2% from the field (62-of-126), 51.9% from three (27-of-52) and 85.7% at the free-throw line (30-of-25).
- He scored in double figures in eight games with five 20-point efforts and had at least five rebounds in seven contests.
- Stone recorded his first career double-double with 15 points (5-9 FG) and 12 rebounds against Rochester in his Titan debut and posted a career-high 24 points, hitting a career-high 10-of-19 from the field, with eight boards, at Wright State and 24 points, shooting a career-best 6-of-9 from three, with nine rebounds, three assists and a steal at NKU.
MOTOR CITY PRIDE
- Senior Kyle LeGreair is one of the lone veterans under head coach Mike Davis as he has played in 57 games in his three years.
- Last year, he battled a shoulder injury, but still played in all 33 games with three starts and averaged 1.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He made 15-of-31 shots from the field (48.4%), including 3-of-5 from distance, and also had 23 steals and two blocks.
- He was credited with multiple assists 16 times, at least three rebounds in 10 contests and a steal in 16 games.
- He posted four points, four rebounds and a career-tying five assists with a block and a steal at Robert Morris last season. He also had three points, three rebounds, two assists and a career-high five steals at IUPUI, the most steals by a Titan since Madut Akec had five at Louisville in 2021-22.
- LeGreair has one of his best games with four points, a career-high seven rebounds, a career-tying five assists, and two steals against Robert Morris. Before that, he tallied a career-best nine points with four assists at NKU and scored seven points with six boards and three assists against Youngstown State.
SCORE IT MARK
- Sophomore Marcus Tankersley saw action in 24 games, all as a reserve, last season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds, shooting 51.3% from the field (20-of-39) and 93.8% (15-of-16) at the free-throw line.
- He really came on at the end of the year, scoring 10 points (4-5 FG, 4-4 FT) with three steals and tying his season high with five boards against Purdue Fort Wayne in the Horizon League Championship opening round and ending the year with a season-best 14 points, hitting 6-of-9 from the field, with three rebounds and three assists in the Horizon League Championship Quarterfinals at Youngstown State.
BUON GIORNO
- Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia has played at two Division I programs in Nicholls State and UNLV and is the first Titan to hail from Italy.
- After an injury ended his 2021-22 season with the Colonels, he came back to play in 25 games with four starts last year and tallied 3.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, while coming away with 28 steals. He had a season-high 11 points in back-to-back games at New Orleans and against Houston Christian, put in 10 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and pulled down a career-high 10 boards at Southeastern Louisiana.
- At UNLV in 2020-21, he played in 21 games and logged six starts, averaging 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds, reaching double figures twice, including a career-high 13 points in the regular season finale against Wyoming and 10 points with five rebounds against Utah State in the second round of the Mountain West Tournament. He also had eight points on 4-of-4 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds against Colorado State.
- He started his career recording 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds during his freshman campaign at Cloud County Community College, netting 13.2 points with 9.1 rebounds as a sophomore at the College of Central Florida.
RETURN OF THE MAK
- Junior Mak Manciel is a local product from Sterling Heights, Michigan, who was a First Team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American as a sophomore at Henry Ford College after posting 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists, shooting 47.6% from the field, 40.8% from three and 83.0% at the line.
- Last year, he was at Arkansas State, but missed last season due to a knee injury.
NEW LEADER IN TOWN
- Graduate senior Donovann Toatley has played in 45 collegiate games with eight starts in his previous stops at Bethune-Cookman, Monmouth and Tennessee-Chattanooga, although he did not play in any games last season at Bethune-Cookman.
- He suited up for 17 games at Monmouth in 2020-21, averaging 7.3 points, and scoring a career-high 17 points at Niagara, hitting 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from three. He also had 13 points against Marist, 16 points versus Canisius and 13 points with three steals against St. Peter's.
- As a freshman at Chattanooga in 2018-19, he played in 28 contests for the Mocs, starting eight, and scored 11.4 points per game, second on the team, while shooting 42.1%
- His 82 assists led the team, good for an average of just shy of three per contest, and he netted 17 double-figure scoring nights, registering a career-high 19 points against Western Carolina, at East Tennessee and at UT Martin. He also had five points and a career-best 10 assists at Mississippi.
CAN I CHECK YOUR ID
- Graduate senior Edoardo Del Cadia was born on March 10, 1999, as the 24-year old is the 13th oldest player in Division I.
O NO
- Graduate senior Oton Jankovic played in 21 games in three years at Tulane and started his collegiate career at Vanderbilt, playing in 21 games as a rookie.
- He prepped at Montverde Academy in Florida and Prolific Prep in California. He was a member of the Croatian National Team at every level from U14-U18 and trained with the Olympic team in the summer 2020, averaging 10 points a game in his age-group FIBA European Championship.
