By: Spencer Brown
Year in and year out, the Bellarmine University men’s basketball team is consistently one of the top teams in Division II. Coming off a 29-3 record in the 2017-18 season that resulted in a Great Lake Valley Conference (GLVC) regular and postseason title, the Knights look poised to repeat as conference champions with the hope of winning the national championship in Evansville, Indiana.
Bellarmine starts its run as the Division II Bulletin preseason No. 1 team.
Depth and experience are what sets this Knights team apart. The Knights return a lot of talent from last year’s team, including a strong senior class led by Tyler Jenkins, Adam Eberhard, Daniel Ramser, Skyler Hunter, Willie Schurfranz and Chivarsky Corbett.
“We have more depth and experience this year,” Eberhard said. “Experience is the greatest teacher and to have this many guys that have played in big games really helps us.”
The Knights have also brought two Division I transfers in junior Chris Palombizio and sophomore Ethan Claycomb.
Transferring to a new school can be difficult for some people but the new Knights have adjusted.
“Transitioning [from Oakland to Bellarmine] has been great. My teammates and the faculty really helped me early on,” Palombizio said.
Claycombs said; “My transition (from Indiana State) to Bellarmine has been great…my teammates and the coaching staff have made it very easy for me to adjust.”
Head Coach Scott Davenport, who is in his 14th season with the Knights, said the team is “very fortunate to have guys that are not only tremendous basketball players but also tremendous young men.”
In the GLVC men’s basketball preseason poll, Bellarmine received the most points with 181.
Davenport said the team needs to focus on winning each game and not looking past any team on the schedule.
Bellarmine teams have historically been one of the most talented teams in DII, but Indianapolis native and senior Tyler Jenkins said he believes that this year’s squad is the most talented team top to bottom that the program has ever had and wants to see the team lead the country in field goal percentage.
Preseason 1st team All-American and Evansville native Adam Eberhard said, “We need to be focused on getting better every day.”
Eberhard said that he wanted to focus more on offensive rebounding because that has been a struggle on previous Knights teams.
Every day the team is constantly working to get better, Palombizio said.
“Day in and day out, we have worked super hard to give us the best shot at winning throughout the season” he said.
Jenkins said that the team has focused a lot on nutrition during the off-season.
“A lot of guys…have transformed their bodies over the last six to seven months,” Davenport said. “Each player has a strength and a weakness they worked on but (collectively) their bodies are the best.”
Davenport said all team members come to practice looking to improve their individual play.
“All the guys, one to 17 come in and want to get better, and that’s really special,” Davenport said.
The Knights open the season with exhibition games against the University of Louisville on Oct. 28 at the KFC Yum! Center and Wabash College on Nov. 1 at Knights Hall. They begin their regular season on the road at Saginaw Valley on Nov. 9 with the first of three away games before playing their home opener on Nov. 24 against Wayne State.