Alistair Mackay, a 6′10 Senior out of Scotland has verbally committed to play basketball for the Davidson College Wildcats and coach Bob McKillop.
MacKay continues the tradition of Wildcat big men coming across the pond. Recent predecessors have been Ben Alison (England), Andrew Lovedale (England), and Boris Meno (France).
MacKay has been training this summer with the Great Britain U20 team in Essex and will be ready to prove himself in a deep Davidson frontcourt which includes returning co-freshman of the year, Jake Cohen, transfer, Clint Mann, Juniors Frank Ben-Eze and Ben Alison, and local recruit, DeMon Brooks.
MacKay comes to Davidson having already gained leadership experience captaining the Scotland U18 team in last year’s European Championships averaging 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds over 8 games.
After previously committing to Howard, DeMon Brooks reopened his recruitment when Howard made a coaching change. The 6′7″ power forward was pursued hard by many southern conference schools including Appalachian State, Elon and The College of Charleston, but decided to come to Davidson in order to anchor the young talented team down low.
Some important notes about Brooks:
> 6′7″ 215 lb. power forward from Hopewell High School in nearby Huntersville, N.C.
> During his senior year averaged 17.5 points and 10.2 rebounds and recorded 15 double doubles.
> The I-Meck 4A player of the year.
> Over the last two seasons, helped lead the Hopewell Titans to a 52-4 record and back to back conference championships.
> Nicknamed ‘Bootz’: “The fans are not booing, they are yelling ‘Boooooooootz!’”
> Will join friend and teammate Jordan Downing as the first pair of Titan Players to join the Davidson team.
Quotes from Hopewell Coach, Ed Davis on Brooks’ commitment:
> “This is a very special situation for Jordan, DeMon and everyone in the Hopewell basketball (family). It speaks so highly of their character and work ethic. Davidson won’t just let anybody into their school or on their basketball team. To take two guys from one team says a lot about the players.”
> “He really wanted to stay closer to home and Davidson had a really good freshman class last year and a really good one this year. (Brooks) is really excited about playing for (Davidson) coach (Bob) McKillop, and to play basically in your back yard is exciting to him, too.”
Video of Demon Brooks:
Below is video of Demon Brooks and his Hopewell basketball team beating rival Lake Norman on December 17. Brooks is #24 in blue. Basketball highlights begin at the 2:45 mark.
(Note: Fellow Davidson recruit Jordan Downing is #21 in blue)
After leading his team to 20 straight wins in the Pennsylvania Central league, Davidson recruit Jake Cohen faced stiff defense, clutch shooting, and the first defeat of the year on Monday.
Cohen’s Conestoga Pioneers faced off against rival Lower Merion with their undefeated season on the line. Conestoga had won the previous three match-ups and looked to be firing on all cylinders again as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game.
The game was a game of runs for both teams, however, and it was Lower Merion’s Oliver Cohen (no relation) who capped a comeback with a layup to secure the 46-44 win.
One of the keys to Lower Merion’s success was their ability to contain Jake Cohen. The 6′10″ senior was held to only 9 points, well below his season average, by the Ace’s Harley Williamson who admitted that the assignment was “difficult”.
“He is respected in the Central league,” said Williamson, “and he is a great player. It was hard.”
Despite the loss, Conestoga will remain the top seed going into the league championship when they will play Upper Darby at home.
Davidson recruit Jake Cohen continues to impress in his senior year.
The 6′10″ forward has lead Conestoga to the only undefeated team in the Pennsylvania Central League after beating Penncrest (the other previously unbeaten team)
The Deleware daily times broke down the four reasons Conestoga is so good this year and Wildcats fans will be happy with number 4
“1. They traveled more than 3,000 miles to a holiday tournament in San Diego, where they beat three teams handily, including one nationally ranked (and previously unbeaten) team.
2. They are 7-0 in the Central, and have beaten all takers by an average of 18.3 points per contest.
3. They knocked off Penncrest, which looked untouchable after taking care of business against all six of its Central opponents prior to Wednesday.
4. Oh yeah, and the Pioneers (12-0, 7-0) have Jake Cohen (pictured), a 6-10 senior forward who has committed to Davidson.”
According to head coach, Mike Troy, the most encouraging sign for the team (and for Davidson) is the development of the players.
“It’s a credit to the players. They’ve all bought into what we’re trying to do,” said Troy. “I’m happy with how Jake has progressed, but I’m happy with how all the kids have progressed.”
Every win shows more about the Davidson recruit’s consistency and leadership.
According to two separate sources, Australian basketball player Rhys Murphy is the latest commitment to the Davidson Wildcats.
Murphy recently moved to the United States and instantly turned heads for the Chicago Elite team on the AAU basketball circuit.
Currently the 6′7″ 190 pound forward is playing for Lee Academy in Lee, Maine.
Murphy was rated as a three-star recruit who was being recruited by Xavier, Butler, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Stanford and San Diego in addition to Davidson.
According to scouts, Murphy is an extremely athletic wing player who likes to shoot the three as well as dunk.
As the final commitment, Rhys will join JP Kuhlman, Jake Cohen, and Nik Cochran as Davidson’s 2009 recruiting class.
Davidson prospect Tom Droney does not come from a big time basketball high school. But that doesn’t keep this Junior point guard off the recruiting radar.
The 6′6″ guard is making a name for himself by following up a 21 ppg sophomore year with a 25.6 ppg junior year. Droney’s play has lead to offers from Pitt, Notre Dame and Davidson.
Droney visited Notre Dame twice this fall and liked the place. He also likes the hometown team, but he was awfully impressed when he went on a visit to Davidson this fall and the entire team met him when he arrived at 9 p.m. on a Friday.
Well, not quite the entire team. Stephen Curry wasn’t there because he had just gotten his wisdom teeth pulled. Droney admits one of the main reasons he is considering Davidson is because of how Curry has excelled in the program.
In a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Droney talked about his aspirations despite coming from a school that isn’t known for it’s basketball talent.
“I know people say I only play Class A basketball,” Droney said recently, staring straight across Sewickley Academy’s gym at the bleachers. “But look at what I’ve done when I’ve played AAU basketball against some of the top players in the country. I’ve held my own — and a lot of times really held my own.
“I don’t think playing here hurts me. Maybe some people look at who we play and see a team like OLSH. They say ‘Who is OLSH?’ But I love everything about this place. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
As for his chances of going to Davidson, Droney has mentioned a good connection with the team but most recently has said “at this point in time, I honestly don’t have a school I’m positive about. The schools haven’t been putting that much pressure on me. When I get the feeling, I’ll pull the trigger.”
However, knowing that Droney enjoys his experience excelling on the court at a smaller school bodes well for Davidson.
With all the success Stephen Curry has had at Davidson, it’s easy to wonder why the Wildcats did not also sign Steph’s younger brother, Seth. The question has been raised again now that Seth is the highest scoring freshman in the NCAA.
The answer to that queation is, they tried, that much we know from what Coach Bob McKillop has told us.
However, there was another key player in Seth’s recruitment, and he was not subtle.
In a recent USA Today article, Steph talked about how he continued to drop hints to try to convince Seth to join the wildcats.
Big Curry told the newspaper that he, at one point, wrote “DAVIDSON” in glow-in-the-dark marker on Seth’s wall. That way, when Little Curry turned off the lights, he would think ghosts wanted him to sign with the team.
“Was that too much?” Steph joked.
No matter how much fans and Steph wanted Seth to play for the Wildcats, there is no denying he is already showing signs of his own success scoring 26 points in an upset of Virginia.
The separation is probably best for the family though, as games of one-on-one between the two brothers often turned too competitive. “There have been a few fights,” said Seth. “Intensity is in our family”.
Davidson College recruit JP Kuhlman is off to a great senior season. With a 32 point performance this past Saturday against rival Arlington Country Day, Kuhlman has led his team to a 7-0 record.
The future Davidson guard is showing how he can develop into a deadly shooter with his most recent performance.
When asked about the Wildcat’s 2009 recruiting class, Scout.com recruiting expert Dave Telep says “Kuhlman could be the gem of their class. I think he was very underrecruited.”
“He will be an elite-level mid-major player,” says Telep. “He’s not the prettiest player, but he has unbelievable confidence and should be an outstanding combo guard.”
With the addition of Kuhlman and fellow recruit Nik Cochran, Davidson will have an extremely deep backcourt in 2009.
Davidson College has signed Canadian guard Niko Cochran to it’s 2009 recruiting class.
Cochran is the third player in the past four years out of Champlain St. Lambert in Quebec to sign with Bob McKillop’s Davidson Wildcats. He will join fellow high school teammates Will Archambault and Max Paulhus Gosselin in the Wildcat’s back court.
Nik Cochran trains for his new role at Davidson College
Cochran is a 6′3″ shooting guard who is averaging 26 points per game which is good for second in the provence. Davidson expects Cochran to contribute on the scoreboard with both a deadly touch from outside and the ability to absorb contact and get to the line.
Read more about Nik Cochran in a recent story featured in the Montreal Gazette.
Alistair Mackay, a 6′10 Senior out of Scotland has verbally committed to play basketball for the Davidson College Wildcats and coach Bob McKillop.
