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Detroit Mercy Basketball: Gerard Liddell gives Titans more frontcourt depth

By Tristan Freeman

SOUTH BEND, IN - DECEMBER 10: Head coach Mike Davis of the Detroit Titans is seen during the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on December 10, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - DECEMBER 10: Head coach Mike Davis of the Detroit Titans is seen during the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion on December 10, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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In a late effort to add talent to the roster for the upcoming season, Detroit Mercy Basketball added a former top-50 prospect in Gerald Liddell.

With all-time program and conference leading scorer Antoine Davis returning for one more year, all the pressure is on Detroit Mercy to be a competitive team for the 2022-23 campaign. He’s back on a completely revamped roster, after losing several key rotation pieces such as Noah Waterman, DJ Harvey and Madut Akec. All of them were the top rebounders and primarily plays in the frontcourt as well.

There were two forwards the Titans added previously in Damezi Anderson from Loyola-Chicago and Arashma Parks, a 6’9 center transfer from Temple who started 13 games, averaging 1.1 ppg and 2.7 rpg in 11 mpg. There’s just not a lot of proven production on the roster but that changed this weekend with the pickup of Gerard Liddell, who averaged 10.2 ppg and 5.6 rpg in 20 starts at Alabama A&M in the SWAC.

Liddell was inconsistent on offense, with nine games of 6 of fewer points, as well as 10 games with 14+ points scored. But when he’s on the 6’8 power forward can be effective, including a performance of 19 points on the road at Iowa, 22 and 11 versus NC Central and four straight double-doubles at the end of last season.

Liddell has a former pedigree as a highly-touted prospect, ranked in the top-50 of the 2018 recruiting class. He played his first three years at Texas but never got much of a role and produced very little overall. The forward wasn’t good enough at the Big 12 level but did do well at the SWAC. The Horizon League is in between both leagues from a talent standpoint so it’ll be interesting to see how Liddell looks at Detroit.

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Considering the lack of depth the Titans had in the frontcourt, adding someone with potential like Liddell was a good move. He’ll play with one of the best guards in the nation in Davis and get a fair amount of playing time. How much he provides Detroit Mercy will help determine whether or not they can compete for a Horizon League title next season.