GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - For the fourth time in five seasons, the Davenport University men's basketball team will begin its season at the GLIAC/GLVC Crossover. This season, it will be in Kansas City, Mo. as the Panthers get set to take on Rockhurst on Friday (8 p.m. ET) and William Jewell on Saturday (2 p.m. ET). Burt Paddock will lead the charge for DU in his 14th season at the helm of the men's basketball program with assistants, Robbie Harman and Dylan Liddell, as well as a roster of 16, by his side.

• New Faces: Of the 16 players on Davenport's roster, nine have never played a single second for the Panthers. That list includes Samm Jones (opted out in 2020-21), Marcedus Leech Jr. (JUCO transfer), Jaden Terrell (freshman), Noble Cooper (DI transfer), Jakub Dombek (DI transfer), Nic Sura (freshman), Luke Maranka (DI transfer), Jairus Stevens (redshirted in 2020-21), and Jaylen Hodges (freshman). Four more have played fewer than 20 games in a Davenport uniform including Jarrin Randall (19 games, two starts), Brackton Miller (16 games, five starts), Jeff Carrier (16 games, four starts), and James Felton (16 games, two starts). Experience wise, the Panthers will lean on Chris Rollins (78 games, 68 starts), Avery Hudson (50 games, 41 starts) and Chaz Birchfield (47 games, nine starts).

• Preseason Pick: Davenport (31 points) was picked to finish third in the South Division behind Grand Valley State (49 points & nine first-place votes) and Wayne State (42 points & two first-place votes). Behind the Panthers came Saginaw Valley State in fourth (20 points) and Northwood in fifth (18 points). In the North Division, the top six read like this: Michigan Tech (56 points & six first-place votes), Ferris State (55 points & five first-place votes), Parkside (34 points), Lake Superior State (32 points), Northern Michigan (25 points), and Purdue Northwest (23 points).

• Back to a Full Slate: After playing just 16 games a season ago, all of which were in GLIAC play, Davenport has 28 games scheduled for the 2021-22 regular season. Those 28 contests include 12 at home, 16 on the road, 24 in region, 20 in the GLIAC, and eight in the central time zone. The Panthers' home opener will come on Nov. 23 against Great Lakes Christian and the first league home game will be against Wayne State on Dec. 2.

• Rollins Record Book Watch: Entering his fourth season with the program in 2021-22, Chris Rollins is tied for fifth in assists (293), sixth in three-pointers made (114), sixth in free throws made (252), sixth in steals (162), eighth in points (1,054), and eighth in field goals made (344). Average wise, the Detroit native is first in assists (3.8), first in steals (2.1), fourth in scoring (13.5), seventh in minutes played (29.3), and eighth in free throw percentage (77.1 percent).

• Sensational Stevens: After sitting out the 2020-21 season due to transfer rules, Jairus Stevens figures to be an important piece for Davenport in 2021-22. In his last season on the court with Tiffin in 2019-20, Stevens became the Dragons' go-to scorer as he led the team and ranked third in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) with 17.5 points per game. The Merrillville, Ind. native led the squad in both field goal percentage and rebounds per game with a 52.2 clip and 7.7 per contest, respectively. Stevens was also fourth in the league in boards per contest and sixth in field goal percentage.

LIVE COVERAGE
Friday, Nov. 12 - 8:00 PM ET - Live Stats - Live Video
Saturday, Nov. 13 - 2:00 PM ET - Live Stats - Live Video
 

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