BY QUIN WELCH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Even at 60, Bellarmine men’s basketball coach Scott Davenport still gets excited when basketball season rolls around.
“It’s the greatest time. It’s so exciting,” Davenport said. “I’ve always said I love this basketball team. If you’re in coaching and you don’t love your team, you need to sprint to another job. Not walk, run.”
Davenport, who enters his 11th year as the Knights’ head coach, has plenty to be excited about. He returns senior guards Rusty Troutman–who averaged 18.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists– and Al Davis, who will look to build on a solid first year at Bellarmine when he averaged over seven points and four assists per game. The Knights lost plenty of size from last year’s tall squad, including 6-foot-10-inch center George Suggs, 6-foot-9-inch forward Josh Derksen– who transferred to Kentucky Wesleyan– and 6-foot-10-inch forward Yasin Kolo, who now plays professionally in Germany. The Bellarmine coach said the roster changes will affect how this team will play.
“This team is a better team defensively because we are quicker. We will have to rebound as well, which is the big challenge,” Davenport said. “Offensively, this team is very, very unselfish and attacks more with the basketball versus attacking with just size.”
Others across the country seem to validate Davenport’s uncontainable excitement for his team. The Division II Bulletin named Bellarmine the preseason No. 1 team in the country. With high praise comes high expectations, though. Davenport said he’s happy about the ranking because it excites the campus community, but it doesn’t mean too much to him strictly from a basketball sense.
“We’re smart enough, and we know it (preseason ranking) will never score a point for us and we know it’ll never get a rebound for us,” Davenport said. “But, it’s great for Bellarmine. It’s great for this community, our alumni and our recruiting. But at the end of the day nobody’s going to remember who was preseason No. 1. They’re going to remember who won the national championship.”
Troutman said he knows opponents everywhere will circle the Bellarmine game on their schedules, so it’s important for him and his teammates to avoid becoming complacent by reading too much into the polls.
“We just need to stay together as a team. We just should see it as motivation and a respect factor,” Troutman said. “We always start every year with a target on our backs somehow. Number 1 in preseason doesn’t mean anything. It’s what happens at the end of the season that means the most. We just use it as a fuel to our fire and continue to work hard, defend and play the game like it’s supposed to be played. If we do that, it’ll all pay off for us.”
Troutman was named to the Bulletin’s Super 16 Selections as one of two representatives from the Midwest. On top of that, The Sporting News named him a preseason All-American honorable mention. The Bullitt County native said having a blue-collar attitude will help him maintain his stellar form heading into his senior season.
“Working hard has paid off over the years. I’ve always felt like I’ve been the second best and had a little chip on my shoulder,” Troutman said. “I’ve seen progress through my hard work. Being the first out here and being the last one off the court has helped me tremendously with my shot and gave me confidence.”
For Davis, aggression will be key this season.
“Really, I’m just focusing on being more aggressive on both the offense and defensive end,” Davis said. “As a senior captain and the one year experience playing for Bellarmine I am much more comfortable and confident, which carries over to becoming the better teammate and leader that I plan to be.”
Davis, Troutman and senior forward George Knott were tapped as team captains by Davenport for the season. Along with their experience and their leadership abilities, Davenport said they all share one common love.
“They love Bellarmine. That’s what you want spread through your team… When I say they love Bellarmine, they love everything Bellarmine stands for both as an institution and as a basketball program,” Davenport said. “Take the All-Americans we’ve had. Braydon Hobbs, Jeremy Kendall, Jake Thelen and look at the biggest overachievers, Corbin Maynard and Mike Parrish. What’s the one common thing? They all love Bellarmine.”
Bellarmine’s push for a second all-time national championship will begin in Cincinnati as the Knights take on the Cincinnati Bearcats on Nov. 2 in an exhibition game.
Davenport will then take his team to Indiana University and the University of Louisville before beginning the regular season against Saginaw Valley State on Nov. 11.
The Bellarmine coach said those three D-I schools, which Bellarmine played last year, will give him a sense of where his team is heading into the regular season.
“Those exhibition games are going to be tougher than anybody in the country at any time,” Davenport said. “Nobody’s going to play at Cincinnati, at Indiana and at Louisville in six days. That’ll give us a great gauge.”
So, why exactly is Davenport so excited to get this season rolling? Because he loves his team.
“We’re excited. We’re excited because we’ve been in here with them every single day and they’ve been here all summer and they’re very, very, very special young men,” he said.