Davis picked POTY, Baldwin Jr. our first Preseason All-League freshman
Antoine Davis is the HoriZone Roundtable pick to win Horizon League Player of the Year in a poll of our writers and podcast staff. The senior finished 2021 second in the nation in scoring with 24.0 points per game. He’s joined on the first team by returning All-League players Torrey Patton, Jalen Moore and Grant Basile as well as highly touted freshman Patrick Baldwin Jr.
The rest of the returning 2021 All-League picks — Wright State’s Tanner Holden, Northern Kentucky’s Trevon Faulkner and Marques Warrick, and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jarred Godfrey — are joined by Milwaukee guard DeAndre Gholston on our second team. Holden is the lone player who wasn’t a First Team selection to be unanimously selected to one of the top two teams on every ballot.
After seeing only Patton selected All-League at the end of 2021, our projected 2022 Horizon League Champion Cleveland State is projected to have three players make the team this year as both Tre Gomillion and D’Moi Hodge were selected for the third team. Also earning Third Team Preseason honors are Youngstown State’s Shemar Rathan-Mayes, UIC’s Michael Diggins and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Damian Chong-Qui. Chong Qui is the first player to be selected to the HoriZone Roundtable Preseason All-League team in his first year after transferring in from another NCAA program.
HoriZone Roundtable Preseason All-League Teams:
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| *Antoine Davis, G, Detroit Mercy (SR) | Tanner Holden, G/F, Wright St. (JR) | Tre Gomillion, G, Cleveland St. |
| Patrick Baldwin Jr., F, Milwaukee (FR) | Trevon Faulkner, G, NKU (SR) | D’Moi Hodge, G, Cleveland St. |
| Torrey Patton, F, Cleveland St. (SR) | Jarred Godfrey, G, PFW (SR) | Shemar Rathan-Mayes, G, YSU |
| Grant Basile, F, Wright St. (JR) | DeAndre Gholston, G, Milwaukee (SR) | Michael Diggins, F, UIC |
| Jalen Moore, G, Oakland (SR) | Marques Warrick, G, NKU (SO) | Damian Chong Qui, G, PFW |
Antoine Davis was the only player other than our pick Loudon Love to earn a vote for Player of the Year on our Postseason All-League Team in 2021, so it’s no surprise that he’s the overwhelming pick to win the award in 2022. Barring injury, Davis should be able to score the 279 points needed to become Detroit Mercy’s all-time scoring leader fairly early in the season. In addition to being far and away the Horizon League’s top returning scorer, he’s second among returnees in assists (4.8 per game) and sixth in steals (1.45 per game).
Patrick Baldwin Jr. became the highest-rated high school recruit ever to commit to a Horizon League school when he chose to play for his father at Milwaukee over Duke and several other prestigious suitors. The 6-foot-9 freshman wing ranked seventh nationally in the final 247 Composite Ranking thanks in large part due to his size and skillset. The freshman — who is widely projected to be a Top 20 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft — is far and away the biggest reason for Milwaukee’s jump from last year’s eighth place finish to a third place projection in the HoriZone Roundtable Preseason Poll.
Torrey Patton earned First Team All-Horizon League honors in 2021 after starring for Horizon League Regular Season co-Champion Cleveland State. With CSU picked to repeat as regular season champion, it’s not a surprise to see the 6-foot-5 senior tabbed for First Team honors once again. Patton led the Vikings in points (14.7 per game) and rebounds (8.0 per game) last season.
Grant Basile‘s jump to our Preseason First Team might come as a bit of a surprise given that he’s effectively taking the spot over Tanner Holden. Holden was arguably Wright State’s best player for a good stretch of last year on his way to being selected to our Second Team All-League, while Basile was a third teamer. The most likely explanation for Basile’s jump is that our voters anticipate Wright State to continue to run largely through the post despite having one less dominant post player. Basile clearly has the talent to make the first team, but the choice between him and Holden might come down to strategy in WSU’s post-Love era.
Jalen Moore — like Antoine Davis and Torrey Patton — earned First Team All-Horizon League honors at the end of 2021, so it’s not surprising that he has been selected to repeat that feat this year. The 5-foot-11 guard led the nation with 8.4 assists, nearly a full assist per game more than anyone in Division I. He added a team-leading 17.9 points and 1.7 steals per game. With traditional half-court post player Daniel Oladapo transferring out of the program and the more perimeter-oriented Jamal Cain transferring in, don’t be surprised if Moore repeats as the national assist leader this year. A potential increase in tempo could even have him flirting with double digit assists per game.
Tanner Holden didn’t get the natural bump up to our First Team All-League this preseason, but it was close enough that I don’t think any voters would be surprised if he found himself there at the end of the year. Up until a late-season slump, Holden was the Raiders’ scoring leader. Despite that slump, he finished the year second on the team in scoring (15.8 per game) and rebounding (7.3 per game). If Scott Nagy opts for a more perimeter-oriented approach this season it could be Holden who finds himself on the league’s First Team, and depending on how the standings shake out, in the running for Player of the Year.
Trevon Faulkner was selected Second Team All-League a season ago despite somewhat struggles with efficiency because he brought a little bit (and frequently a lot) of everything to the table for the Norse. He led one of the better teams in the Horizon League in scoring (16.7 per game) and steals (1.5 per game) while finishing second on the team in rebounding (5.7 per game) and assists (2.5 per game).
Jarred Godfrey earned Second Team All-League honors in 2021 after leading Purdue Fort Wayne in scoring (16.2 per game), rebounds (5.4 per game), assists (3.8 per game) and steals (1.6 per game). Godfrey might not have to carry as much of the workload this year, as the Mastodons added 2021 First Team All-NEC guard Damian Chong Qui through the transfer portal. While Godfrey obviously performed well as the team’s primary ballhandler, focusing on creating his own shot could make him an even more dangerous player this season.
DeAndre Gholston had a strong case to make the All-League team last season after leading Milwaukee in scoring (16.8 points per game), but ended up being left off of both the HoriZone Rountable’s teams and the Horizon League’s official teams. The most likely explanations for that are that Gholston played for the league’s eighth place finisher Milwaukee and split votes with Te’Jon Lucas, who snuck onto the Horizon League’s official All-League Third Team. Patrick Baldwin Jr. is expected to bring the Panthers a big boost in the standings, and in the process could open things up for Gholston by taking up so much of the defense’s focus. With increased team success, Gholston’s production last year would’ve made him a clearcut All-League pick.
Marques Warrick rolled to the 2021 Horizon League Freshman of the Year award and a spot on both the HoriZone Roundtable and Horizon League Third Team All-League. Warrick averaged 15.8 points per game while hitting shots with excellent efficiency. A major reason we’re expecting bigger things from Warrick in 2022 is that where the previous runaway Freshman of the Year Amari Davis seemed to hit the freshman wall, Warrick kept getting better. If that continues and he’s able to make himself the primary offensive option on a team that features another Second Team All-League pick at guard, it’s easy to see him finishing the year picked as one of the league’s Top 10 players.
Tre Gomillion‘s stats from last year don’t pop off of the page like some of the other players on this list, but the 2021 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year was a key part of Cleveland State’s jump to Horizon League Champion. In addition to his outstanding defense, Gomillion was among the team’s leaders in points (10.3 per game), rebounds (5.0 per game) and assists (2.4 per game).
D’Moi Hodge proved his 25.2 point per game scoring average at the State College of Florida was no fluke when he hit a Cleveland State record 10 3-pointers in a 46-point outing in a win over Purdue Fort Wayne last season. Now our voters expect him to take another step to become an All-League performer in 2022. The 6-foot-4 wing averaged 10.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-leading 1.7 steals per game last year.
Shemar Rathan-Mayes should have ample opportunity to step into a bigger role for Youngstown State as a sophomore. The 2021 Horizon League All-Freshman Team pick averaged 10.4 points and 3.5 assists per game last season. He’ll have a chance to dramatically increase those numbers following the departure of previous All-Horizon League picks Darius Quisenberry and Naz Bohannon. While there was some indecisiveness about who our voters thought would take over as YSU’s go-to-guy, Rathan-Mayes wound up the clear favorite.
Michael Diggins opted to return for another season at UIC after finishing second on the team last year in scoring (10.8 per game) and rebounding (5.9 per game). With all-everything guard Teyvion Kirk gone, Diggins should be positioned to step into the go-to role for the Flames. In addition to his scoring and rebounding, the 6-foot-8 forward is second among returning players in terms of assists (2.1 per game) and steals (0.6) and led last year’s squad in blocks (0.8 per game).
Damian Chong Qui snuck his way onto our All-League team a season after earning First Team All-NEC honors and leading Mount Saint Mary’s to the NCAA Tournament last year. The 5-foot-8 guard led the Mountaineers with 15.1 points per game, and led the entire NEC with 5.5 assists per game while also maintaining the best assist-to-turnover ratio of the league’s Top 15 distributors. He also tallied a surprising 4.2 rebounds per game for the Mountaineers.
Miss anything from Preview Week? Check it all out below:
Predictions
Preseason All-League Teams • Preseason Individual Awards
If we had an All-Newcomer Team…
Women’s Preseason Poll • Women’s Preseason All-League Teams
How’d we do? #HLWBB Preseason Poll
Podcasts
Comparing notes with Justin Kinner
Team Previews
Cleveland State • Wright State • Milwaukee • Detroit Mercy
Northern Kentucky • Oakland • Purdue Fort Wayne • Youngstown State
UIC • Robert Morris • Green Bay • IUPUI
Green Bay (WBB) • Cleveland State (WBB)
