W&M News and Notes
- W&M opens the season on the road for the 12th time in the last 14 years when travels to Old Dominion on Saturday night. The Tribe won its season opener on the road last season, 70-56, at High Point in head coach
Dane Fischer's debut.
- The Tribe will play eight of its first 10 games on the road in 2020-21, including six of its eight nonconference contests. Last season, the Tribe played 12 of its first 16 games on the road. Over head coach
Dane Fischer's first two seasons, the Tribe has played or is scheduled to play 15 of its 21 nonconference games on the road. Last season, the Tribe tied a school record with 10 road wins.
- W&M and ODU meet for the 48th-straight season dating back to 1974. The Monarchs lead the all-time series at 68-23, but the Tribe has won seven of the last nine meetings, including a 63-46 win in Williamsburg last season. The teams have split the last four meetings in Norfolk with ODU pulling out a 71-53 victory in 2018.
- Senior
Luke Loewe garnered preseason All-CAA honorable mention honors. A three-year starter, Loewe enjoyed a breakout junior season. He led the CAA in in 3-point shooting at 43.9% and ranked 24th in the league at 10.7 ppg. Loewe was a stalwart on the defensive end, consistently limiting the league's top perimeter scorers on his way to CAA All-Defensive Team honors.
- As a team, the Tribe was picked 10th in the preseason standings. Hofstra, who won the CAA regular season and tournament championships in 2020, was the preseason pick to win the league. Last season, W&M was picked seventh in the preseason and finished second with a 13-5 league mark. In 2019-20, the Tribe won the fourth-most games in school history (21) and posted program records in conference wins (13) and road wins (10).
- 2020 graduate
Nathan Knight, who was the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year last season, signed a two-way NBA contract with the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 24. He became the third W&M player, joining Marcus Thornton (Cleveland Cavaliers 10-day contract in 2018) and Daniel Dixon (Boston Celtics preseason Exhibit 10 deal in 2017) to sign an NBA deal in the last four years.
- After starting four seniors in 2019-20, the Tribe will have a younger lineup this season with only one scholarship senior (
Luke Loewe) and seven of its 11 scholarship players being freshmen or sophomores. W&M graduated 63.3% of its scoring (1448-of-2288), 68.2% of its rebounding (787-of-1154), 54% of its minutes played (3459-of-6400) and 73.7% of its starts (138-of-160) from last season.
- Loewe was one of the most improved players in the country last season. After shooting 44.4 % from the field as a sophomore and just 22.6% from 3, he upped his game to rank among the CAA and national leaders in 2019-20. He led the CAA in 3-point % (43.9) and ranked fourth in field goal % (54.4). According to KenPom.com, Loewe was 10th nationally in effective field goal % (64.8) and 13th in true shooting % (65.9). After averaging 3.9 points per game sophomore, he more than doubled his production in 2019-20 at 10.7.
- Junior
Quinn Blair was the Tribe's top reserve scorer a season ago at 4.8 ppg. He heated up over the season's final five games, averaging 8.6 points per game in 18.1 minutes. He shot 75% (15-of-20) from the floor, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. In CAA play, Blair averaged 5.5 points per game, shooting 55.1% from the field.
- Sophomore
Miguel Ayesa ranked among the CAA leaders in 3-point shooting last season. He ranked third on the team, hitting 41 triples in just 447 minutes. Ayesa ranked 13th in the CAA in 3-point shooting at 39.7% in league games. He also became just the second player in W&M history, along with Daniel Dixon '17, to have multiple games of four made 3's without a miss.
- Junior
Thornton Scott started his sophomore campaign on a hot streak, averaging 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per contest, while shooting 52.4% (11-of-21) from 3 in the Tribe's first four games. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that was forced him to miss the remainder of the nonconference slate and another that slowed him during CAA play. He returned to rank third in CAA games in assists (4.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9). He started 10 of his 19 games last season.
- In his first season as a head coach,
Dane Fischer received multiple Coach of the Year award, including VaSID State, CAA and NABC District 10 honors. He was also a finalist for a pair of National Coach of the Year awards, including the Hugh Durham Award Mid-Major Coach of the Year and the Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to first-year D1 head coach. His 21 wins in 2019-20 were the second-most for a rookie head coach in the country last season.
