NCAA Basketball: State of Michigan power rankings (D-I) after 1 month
By Ryan Kay
No. 3 – Detroit Mercy
Best Wins: At Purdue Fort Wayne (75-66), Charlotte (70-49), and Ohio (88-74)
Number of wins over a power five conference teams: Zero
Number of victories over high tier mid major teams not in a Power Five conference: Zero
Notable Defeats: At Washington State (54-96), At Florida Atlantic (55-76), and at Boston College (66-70)
Non-Conference Record: 4-5
RPI Ranking: 145
KenPom Ranking: 225
College Basketball Power Index Ranking: 191
Sagarin Ranking: 206
Quadrant 1 Wins: Zero
Quadrant 2 Victories: Zero
Quadrant 3 Wins: Two
Total Points from Rankings: 767
The Titans brought back the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Antoine Davis as well as some key contributors from last season’s teams. The Titans also brought in some transfers to help boost their roster in Gerald Liddell and Jayden Stone as well as AJ Oliver. Liddell did not play in the Titans’ first seven games but played in Detroit Mercy’s last two and Stone and Oliver played in the first seven games for the Titans but did not play in the last two games for Detroit Mercy. Liddell only playing in two games is technically the number two leading scorer for the Titans and Stone is the third leading scorer. Liddell and Stone have not played a game with one another but hopefully, both will be on the court in their next game against Tulsa.
Detroit Mercy did lose some players from last season in Madut Akec, D.J. Harvey, Noah Waterman, and Matt Johnson. However, the Titans added some more key pieces via the transfer portal and the high school ranks this season. The newcomers had some games to develop chemistry and will look to continue to work playing well with one another through the month of December. For example, Arashma Parks is another transfer who played at Temple. He is an experienced player as he comes to UDM as a graduate transfer and in six games, he is tied as the third leading rebounder on the team. The Titans have the most depth in years and once everyone is healthy on the court together, Detroit Mercy may be able to pull some upsets in the month of December.
Damezi Anderson who last played at Loyola-Chicago before he transferred from Indiana, who is looking to replace the production at Akec gave to the Titans last season has played in all nine of the games this season and is averaging just under ten points a game. Other transfers who have contributed this season are Jordan Phillips via UT Arlington and Arkansas who has played in all but one game this season and is the fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder on the team.
Head coach Davis did bring in a couple of freshmen as well headlined by Sonny Johnson, Jr. who unfortunately may not play this season due to an injury. Isaiah Jones is the true freshman who only has played in three games this season but had two solid back-to-back games in Horizon League play when he scored 11 points and had four rebounds in the Titans road win against Purdue Fort Wayne. In Detroit Mercy’s last game, Jones had his best game of the season when he had a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds against Cleveland State.