Davis picked to defend as POTY
After being named the Horizon League’s co-Player of the Year in 2022, it’s probably not a surprise to see that Antoine Davis is our pick to repeat as POTY in 2023 in a poll of our writers and podcast staff.. Davis enters his final year just 180 points behind former Loyola star Alfredrick Hughes’ Horizon League record 2914 career points, a mark he should easily surpass with a healthy season. Davis is joined on the first team by four guards who are prolific stat-stuffers in their own right: Jalen Moore of Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jarred Godfrey, Youngstown State’s Dwayne Cohill and Marques Warrick of Northern Kentucky.
If the league’s poll is similar to ours, don’t expect to see an article complaining about the lack of love newcomers get. Our second team is led by highly touted transfer Rocket Watts of Oakland and former All-Horizon League guard Amari Davis, now with Wright State after spending a year at Missouri. Robert Morris’ Kahliel Spear is the first big man to appear on our list, joined by two more guards Trey Calvin of WSU and Northern Kentucky’s Sam Vinson.
Damian Chong Qui makes our preseason Third Team All-League for the second year in a row, giving HoriZone Roundtable’s preseason pick to win the regular season crown a second projected All-League performer. Trevon Faulkner and Chris Brandon give NKU four of our 15 All-League selections, while Trey Townsend gives Oakland one player on each of the three teams. And finally, Spider Johnson joins Brandon at the tail end of the third team to give at least one of the squads some decent size.
HoriZone Roundtable Preseason All-League Teams:
| First Team | Second Team | Third Team |
| *Antoine Davis, G, UDM | Rocket Watts, G, Oakland | Damian Chong Qui, G, PFW |
| Jalen Moore, G, Oakland | Amari Davis, G, WSU | Trey Townsend, F, Oakland |
| Jarred Godfrey, G, PFW | Kahliel Spear, F, RMU | Trevon Faulkner, G, NKU |
| Dwayne Cohill, G, YSU | Trey Calvin, G, WSU | Spider Johnson, F, CSU |
| Marques Warrick, G, NKU | Sam Vinson, G, NKU | Chris Brandon, F, NKU |
Antoine Davis surprised many when he decided to pass on opportunities to finish his career at a school like Kansas State or BYU, and in the process cemented himself as the runaway pick for Horizon League Player of the Year. Normally there’s a bit more controversy because of questions about where the Titans will finish in the standings, but this season Davis was our unanimous POTY pick even as his team is projected to finish squarely in the middle of the standings. Davis’ 23.9 points per game last year were good for third in Division I.
Jalen Moore conceded his role as Oakland’s go-to scorer to Jamal Cain — the Miami Heat wing who was the other half of the co-Player of the Year designation that Antoine Davis won — for a season, but our voters are confident that he’ll be back in the driver’s seat for his final season. Like Davis, Moore has been a mainstay among national stat leaders during his time in Division I. The point guard was second in the nation with 7.6 assists per game last year after leading Division I with 8.4 per game as a junior.
Jarred Godfrey has been Purdue Fort Wayne’s unquestioned leader since the Mastodons joined the Horizon League, leading the team in scoring and assists on his way to All-League honors in both seasons. Godfrey earned First Team All-League honors a season ago after averaging 15.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game for a PFW team that earned a share of the Horizon League regular season title.
Dwayne Cohill erupted late in the 2022 season to earn himself a spot on the All-Horizon League Third Team. Cohill averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game for Youngstown State; though it was truly that end-of-the-year spurt that has our voters excited. From January 9th onward, Cohill averaged 19.2 points per game, scoring in double figures in all but one game. During the stretch, he hit shots with an effective field goal percentage of 52.7. If Cohill can keep that late-season momentum going, we might’ve undersold him — and the Penguins — with our prediction
Marques Warrick is our final First Team Preseason All-League pick, and if he lives up to the billing it will complete the gradual climb his career has been on so far. Warrick was a Third Team All-League performer and the freshman of the year in 2021, then followed it up by being a Second Team All-League pick last year. He averaged 16.8 points and 2.9 rebounds for the Norse.
Rocket Watts began his career at Michigan State as a Top 50 recruit nationally, and looked to be well on his way to an outstanding career after averaging 9.0 points per game as a freshman in the Big 10. But after two seasons and 31 starts with the Spartans, Watts transferred to Mississippi State where he struggled to keep his play at the same level. He averaged 4.4 points per game in a career low 13.4 minutes per game. Now back close to home at Oakland, expectations are clearly sky high.
Amari Davis returns to the Horizon League, and in the process quickly returns to our Preseason All-League team. The Dayton native was a 2021 All-League performer at Green Bay, where he averaged 17.2 points per game before transferring to Missouri for a year. Now he’s back in the league, looking to finish out his career close to home at Wright State. Davis was Missouri’s third leading scorer last year, averaging 9.0 points per game.
Kahliel Spear led Robert Morris with 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game en route to being a Third Team All-League selection in 2022. With most of the team’s core pieces back, RMU should see continuity that it hasn’t so far in its time in the Horizon League. If that happens and Spear even maintains his production, it’s easy to see him sliding up the All-League ranks this year.
Trey Calvin led the Horizon League’s NCAA Tournament representative Wright State in assists and steals last year, and is the team’s top returning scorer. Calvin averaged 14.6 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. It’s easy to see his role increasing to the point where All-League is very much in the cards in 2023, even if Amari Davis’ presence takes some of that departed scoring load off of Calvin’s hands.
Sam Vinson was the 2022 Horizon League Freshman of the Year after averaging 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for a Northern Kentucky team that finished just a half game away from the Horizon League title. Our voters anticipate that this is just the start for Vinson, and that he’s a player to watch as a strong potential breakout candidate in 2023. Given that the league’s last four freshmen of the year before Vinson were Warrick, Amari Davis, Antoine Davis, and two-time Player of the Year Loudon Love? That seems like a good bet.
Damian Chong Qui is second among returning Purdue Fort Wayne players in both points and assists, and it’s clear that our pollsters believe he’ll play an even bigger role for the team we’ve picked to win the league this year. Chong Qui averaged 10.1 points, 3.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game last year. While the Mastodons overall team seems capable of absorbing the departure of All-League guard Jalon Pipkins, much of that may very well fall to Chong Qui.
Trey Townsend has been a very versatile forward for Oakland, doing a little bit of everything for the Golden Grizzlies in his two seasons with the team. Townsend averaged 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 2022. With Jamal Cain and Micah Parrish departing there will be plenty of opportunity for Townsend to play a bigger role and emerge as an All-League performer in 2023, even with the arrivals of Watts and OU’s other newcomers.
Trevon Faulkner is projected to have something of a bounce back year by our voters. The guard was a Second Team All-Horizon League selection in 2021 before Marques Warrick emerged as NKU’s unquestioned go-to-guy last year. Bryson Langdon’s graduation could open more opportunities for Faulkner and the other perimeter players on the Norse, and it wouldn’t be a shock at all to see him return to his All-League form from two years ago.
Spider Johnson is Cleveland State’s top returning scorer after the mass exodus that occurred when Dennis Gates took the head coaching job at Missouri, and is also regarded as one of the league’s top defenders. The two-time All-Defensive Team pick averaged 7.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. With so much turnover, roles remain undefined for the Vikings heading into the season. It’s easy to see Johnson improving his stats across the board while remaining one of the league’s elite defenders on his way to All-League status.
Chris Brandon has been known for his defense during both of his Horizon League stops, earning All-Defensive Team honors from the league in 2020 as a member of Detroit Mercy. His placement on our Preseason All-League Third Team likely comes thanks to a combination of that defensive prowess and the increased opportunity as a result of Adrian Nelson’s departure to Youngstown State. Brandon and Nelson split time last year with both getting about 20 minutes per game, but over the course of the season it was Brandon who emerged as the starter. He averaged 5.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and should see an increased role this year.
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