Davidson basketball is not afraid to give freshman Sam Mennenga the final shot
Davidson’s Sam Mennenga played in his third college game on Tuesday and he’s had the ball in his hand to take the final shot in the closing seconds in two of them at the Maui Invitational in Asheville.
That alone should tell all you need to know about what coach Bob McKillop thinks of his talent and what he thinks of the redshirt freshman from New Zealand’s future in a Wildcats’ uniform.
“We couldn’t be more happy to have him in our program,” McKillop said in his postgame video conference. “Because I think he’s going to be a guy that years from now people are going to say, ‘Wow, he was a pretty special player,’ for Davidson’s program.”
Mennenga said he’d always dreamed of playing basketball in the United States. McKillop first learned of him through his network of international basketball contacts. He got to see him play when Mennenga participated in the NBA Academy Games during Final Four weekend in 2019.
Mennenga’s beginning hasn’t had a storybook finish yet though. He caught a full-court pass with 1.3 seconds left trailing 63-62 against Providence on Tuesday and missed a turnaround jumper as the buzzer sounded.
“I thought it was a pretty clean look,” Mennenga said during the postgame video conference. “I was contemplating whether I could take a dribble to the rim or not, but there was 1.3 seconds, so that’s the best look I felt like we could get, based on when he passed it to me, and I just had to put it up.”
The degree of difficulty wasn’t as high against No. 17 Texas, but he missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final seconds in the 76-74 loss. No one at Davidson was surprised when McKillop designed a set play for him to take a potential game-winner.
‘He’s got a bright, bright future’
Davidson returned four starters from last season, but Mennenga has plugged into the lineup rather seamlessly. He graduated from high school last year in December, so technically, he could have played the second half of last season when he arrived on campus in January.
Instead, he was able to practice with the team until COVID-19 shut down the season. But that time gave him the head start he needed to be successful from the opening tip this season.
“I don’t feel like a freshman at all, because I’ve got to know the guys tremendously and not just on the court, but off the court, which is huge,” Mennenga said. “Coming from New Zealand, settling into college, to the life here, knowing how everything works is a huge help so I can hit the season running.”
The 6-9 forward was named the Atlantic 10’s Rookie of the Week on Monday after his debut against High Point netted 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and nine rebounds. He followed that with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and making quite the impression on Texas coach Shaka Smart.
“Mennenga, he’s terrific,” Smart said in his postgame remarks on Monday. “For a freshman, he’s got a bright, bright future. He was a load. We couldn’t handle him.”
Mennenga still learning, still just a freshman
Providence did a better job defending Mennenga and the Wildcats in general. The Friars held Davidson to just 40.4 percent shooting. They limited Mennenga to his season-low thus far with four points and he didn’t make a basket until 3:19 remained in the game.
It took the loss to Providence to remember he’s a freshman seeing defensive adjustments to his game for the first time.
“The switching caught me off guard,” Mennenga said. “They did a good job switching and then once they switched the guards fronting was great. But I’ve got to get better at adjusting to that.”
The Wildcats trailed the entire game and hurt themselves with a slow start. Providence led 27-8 with eight minutes left in the first half before they began a furious rally. Davidson cut its deficit down to 35-31 at halftime.
Mennenga said it was due to the fatigue of fighting so hard only to lose against Texas. After losing a second game they could have won on the last shot, McKillop said his team was mature enough to know it’s part of a growing process.
“We got a great look with, 10 seconds to go for Hyunjung Lee and then we got another as good as you can get with 1.2 seconds for Sam,” he said. “So we have done everything but put the ball in the basket. And if you put the ball in the basket, in either two of those occasions, we’re a pretty happy group of guys right now.”
