DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Entering his 26th season at the helm, head coach Bob McKillop and his Davidson men's basketball team will begin the 2014-15 season on Saturday with their first of 30 practices in the 42 days prior to the season opener.
The 2014-15 season marks the 107th in the history Davidson men's basketball.Â
After 74 seasons in the Southern Conference, Davidson officially joined the Atlantic 10 on July 1, 2014.Â
In addition to going 20-13 overall and 15-1 in league play, the 2013-14 Wildcats captured the SoCon regular season title before advancing to the postseason NIT.Â
Davidson concluded its tenure in the Southern Conference with 12 tournament titles and 23 regular season crowns.Â
The Wildcats have advanced to postseason play 19 times (12 NCAA, 6 NIT, 1 CBI), including nine of the last 10 seasons.Â
Now in his 26th season, McKillop is the seventh longest-tenured coach in the country. His 472 career victories rank him 29th on the NCAA's list of Division I winningest active coaches.Â
Along with hitting the 20-win plateau 21 times in school history, Davidson has posted 20 wins in a season 12 times under McKillop, including eight of the last 10 years.Â
Davidson returns nine letterwinners from last year's squad, including all-conference selections Tyler Kalinoski (11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, .455 3-PT%,), Brian Sullivan (12.9 ppg, 90 3-PT FG, .833 FT%) and Jack Gibbs (6.8 ppg, 2.1 apg).Â
The Wildcats also welcome five freshmen to this year's roster – Peyton Aldridge (Warren, Ohio/Labrae), Nathan Ekwu (Enugu, Nigeria/Cardinal Hayes), Oskar Michelsen (Helsinki, Finland/ HBA-Marsky), Rusty Reigel (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin) and Jordan Watkins (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day). Â
Roster Breakdown
The 2014-15 roster will feature two seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen.
11 players hail from the United States, including three each from North Carolina and Ohio.
Davidson also has four players with international roots – Nathan Ekwu (Enugu, Nigeria), Manu Giamoukis (Thessaloniki, Greece), Ali Mackay (North Berwick, Scotland) and Oskar Michelsen (Helsinki, Finland).
A total of 31 international players have come through the Davidson program since McKillop took over in 1989. Â
Davidson is scheduled to appear on television eight times during the 2014-15 season. Seven of the Wildcats' 18 conference contests, including their first-ever league game (Richmond, 1/3/15) will be televised. Â
Staff Additions
In August Will Reigel was promoted to assistant coach, while recent graduate Will Thoni was named the assistant for program development.
Reigel, a two-time captain and member of the Wildcats from 2008-12, joined the staff a year ago as the assistant for program development.
Thoni has been an integral part of the Wildcats' program the last four years. After serving as a student manager for three, he was awarded a spot on the 2013-14 roster as a walk-on.Â
