On Nov. 10, the Atlantic-10 (A-10) conference announced their 2020-21 preseason awards and redshirt senior guard Ryan Daly was named to the A-10 Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
Daly said after a season in which he was the standout for the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team that often struggled to put tallies in the win column, it was exciting to see his name on that preseason second team list.
“It’s a pretty big accomplishment,” Daly said during a press conference. “I was named third team all league last year and so to be named preseason second team is pretty cool.”
During the 2019-20 season, Daly averaged 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game and, more often than not, carried the load offensively for the Hawks.
Although Hawks fans may feel like Daly deserved a place on the A-10 Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference First Team, Daly said he uses it as motivation for the upcoming season.
“I don’t really focus on preseason rankings or stuff that happens before the season,” Daly said. “I want to circle back in March and see how everything stacks up.”
Daly said he understands basketball as a team game.
“It’s an honor to be viewed by those who voted as one of the best players in this great league,” Daly said. “But, as long as [the team] is winning and taking care of business, I think everything individually will fall into place.”
Specifically, during last season’s challenges, where the Hawks experienced injuries and lacked depth, the addition of new talent to the squad will help him and the team to be more efficient, according to Daly.
“Last year, obviously, I was forced to carry a pretty significant offensive load that ended up with me not taking the best shots for our offense,” Daly said. “So, I’m really excited to get those [new guys], it’ll make me a better player and it’ll make our team significantly better.”
Sophomore guard Cameron Brown also said during a press conference that being able to share the ball and spread the floor will benefit not only Daly’s game, but the team as a whole.
“Really we just want to share the ball this year, if one person scores, we all score,” Brown said. “Going out there, and being able to share the ball and help my teammates out, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
After a year of being coached by Head Coach Billy Lange, Daly expects he’ll be more comfortable in Lange’s system, which he said suits the team’s strengths well.
“Coach Lange likes to play fast and shoot a lot of threes and this year we’ve got the horses to be able to get up and down faster,” Daly said. “This year we’re definitely going to be a little more comfortable with that [system] and put up some points.”
The offense as a whole will look to be more balanced this year, but Lange didn’t shy away from talking about the potential Daly has this season.
“[Daly] could theoretically average more points [than last year] just because of the type of shots he can get,” Lange said. “Does that mean he’s going to take 20 shots in some games like he did last year? It could if the ball finds him like that.”
The Hawks as a whole will look to improve upon last year’s 6-26 record. That will continue with strong performances from Daly, who claims he might have a few ideas on how to get the fan base excited for basketball on Hawk Hill, similar to his circus shot against Davidson College from last season.
“Hopefully games aren’t that close where we need lucky game tying shots,” Daly said. “But I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve this year.”
