New Drake basketball coach Keno Davis says the success the bulldogs enjoyed last season is helping on and off the court. Davis takes over for his father Tom, who led the Bulldogs to a 17-15 record in his final season, the program’s first winning season in 20 years.

Davis says it’s a lot easier to recruit kids and have them come in and say look what we’ve done and continuing to do instead of trying to sell them on the idea of where they are going to be. He says they’ve been selling the future a lot of years at Drake and now they can build upon the winning season.

Keno Davis says this Drake is more talented but less experienced and says the style of play won’t change. Davis says his philosophy will be similar to his father’s, similar to his father’s former assistants, Bruce Pearl of Tennessee and Gary Williams at Maryland.

Davis says they’ll be an up tempo, fast breaking team that uses various forms of pressure defense. He says they want to create as many easy baskets as they can. Drake opens exhibition play against Central College on October 31st. 

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