Busting Brackets
Fansided

Horizon League Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

By Bryan Mauro

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: A general view of basketballs before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: A general view of basketballs before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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ANN ARBOR, MI – NOVEMBER 20: Juwan Howard Jr. #2 of the Detroit Titans takes a shot against Max Bielfeldt #44 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Crisler Arena on November 20, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Detroit 71-62. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI – NOVEMBER 20: Juwan Howard Jr. #2 of the Detroit Titans takes a shot against Max Bielfeldt #44 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half at Crisler Arena on November 20, 2014 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Detroit 71-62. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) /

9. Detroit Mercy Titans

The Titans did not have the season that many were hoping for. Former head coach Bacari Alexander was fired at the end of the season following a two-year stretch that saw Detroit go 16-47. The coaching search in the offseason was mired by a ton of unneeded drama. When it was all over the Titans were able to hit a homerun with their hire.  New head man Mike Davis, formerly of Indiana and Texas Southern, will be tasked with building the Titan program. Coach Alexander took a program that was a middle of pack competitive team and turned them into one of the worst teams in the entire country.

Going into the season the roster from the previous season is mostly gone. The Titans lost one of the better pure scorers in the Horizon league a season ago in guard Kameron Chatman. The Titans are turned their focus this season to guard Jacob Holland who is a JUCO transfer from New Mexico Highlands. Holland led the team in scoring a season ago with just over 14 points per game. If the Titans who also return point guard Josh McFolley, want to be relevant and surprise some teams in the league. McFolley and Holland are going to score and lead the offense. The Titans will need every point Holland is able to provide.

Coach Davis has a good history of rebuilding mid major schools.  He turned Texas Southern into a SWAC powerhouse.  The way that Davis was able to convince kids to come and play for him at Texas Southern was giving kids a second chance.  Davis was known for taking a chance on players who had been expelled or kicked off their former basketball teams for a myriad of reasons. He was able to build a power with some high major D1 talent.  The new head coach is now armed with better facilities, more money and a better fan base. The state of Michigan has enough good high school basketball talent to go around, so Davis should be successful with this rebuild as well. In the next five years Davis will have a competitive team once again.