Last season, the Seton Hall Pirates finished 10-10 in the Big East. They spent the majority of the final months of the season on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. The Pirates had a very productive backcourt in Kadary Richmond and sharp shooting Newark native Al-Amir Dawes.
What wasn’t talked about enough, is the fact the Pirates won 10 Big East games with two of their best players missing significant time. Dre Davis and Richmond missed numerous games down the stretch of the season. The importance of these two players cannot be overstated and Shaheen Holloway believes it hurt their chances to make the tournament last year. Holloway is doubling down on his belief in both Davis and Richmond, but the leadership and grittiness of Davis is going to be paramount for the Pirates to exceed expectations this season.
Coach Holloway has expressed extreme confidence in his backcourt stating publicly over the last few weeks that he has one of the best backcourts in the league. Holloway also expressed confidence at Big East media day in forward Dre Davis. When asked who would take the biggest leap for his Seton Hall Pirates this season, Holloway had no hesitation when he said Davis. Davis is versatile as he can guard and play multiple positions, along with score from anywhere on the floor. A deeper dive into Dre Davis' numbers from last season will show he is poised to breakout and lead the Pirates this season.
Davis transferred to Seton Hall last season from Louisville. He averaged nearly 10 points per game and missed a pivotal six Big East games last season. He also missed a few non conference games with an injury that ended up lingering all season. In a team that lacked depth down low last season, Davis was relied heavy upon to play the power forward position, which he did at 6’6. His versatility and toughness on the defensive end was hard to match and made him a perfect fit for a Shaheen Holloway team.
Davis played his best against the best competition last season. His best performance of the season came on the road against a ranked Providence team. Davis scored 24 points in 25 minutes as Seton Hall defeated Providence. He had 10 other games in which he ended up with double figure scoring. Davis scored 15 points against Butler and Marquette, 14 against Saint John’s, 13 against Xavier, Memphis, Iowa and Saint Peter’s, 12 against Drexel and 10 points against Rutgers and Oklahoma. Davis has shown the consistency to score against Seton Hall’s best competition and that consistency is going to be relied upon this upcoming season.
More important than Davis’s scoring ability is his leadership. Shaheen Holloway named Davis a captain, along with Richmond and Dawes. Davis and Richmond have been seen hours after practice in the gym, getting up extra shots. Davis has been a vocal leader but also leads by example. Davis is defined by his grittiness, toughness and unselfishness. Davis taking that next leap in year two under Shaheen Holloway can be the spark to get the Pirates into the NCAA tournament.
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