It was, “Give it to Trey and get out of the way.”
Senior guard Trey Calvin has an uncanny ability to get any shot he wants off his dribble. It’s why he averaged 20.3 points, was named first-team All-Horizon League and was just picked as the preseason player of the year.
He also had a knack for taking over at crunch time. He hit the game-winning shot at Louisville and nailed game-tying buckets in the final minute four times in a triple-overtime loss at Youngstown, connecting at the end of regulation and all three OT’s.
He had 44 points against YSU, one off the school record, and averaged 23.1 points over the final 10 games.
But the Raiders hope they don’t have to lean so much on the 6-foot guard this year. After hiking his average from 14.6 points as a junior and his field-goal shooting from 41.8% to 49.2%, Calvin will be able to chill out a little more on offense.
At least that’s the plan.
“I think Trey likes that. He’s happy to not be leaned on so heavily like last year,” Nagy said.
“I wouldn’t be completely shocked if he scored less this year. We’ve got better players around him.”
The return of fifth-year wing Tanner Holden, who averaged 20.1 points in 2021-22, should take some of the burden off Calvin. And sophomore forward Brandon Noel topped 20 points seven times last year and figures to be a consistent threat on the blocks.
Calvin said he’s more than willing to share the load.
“We’ve got a lot of people who can put the ball in the basket, so I don’t need to score a lot,” said the Chicago native, who wants to put his focus elsewhere.
“I want to get more assists. And if you look at the past couple seasons, we haven’t been that good defensively. We obviously could score at will. If we can lock in on defense, we’ll be good this year and hopefully get a championship.”
Nagy wants that last comment to not only become Calvin’s mindset, but also the mantra for the team.
They averaged 79.9 points last season (20th in the nation) even without Holden. The main reason they finished 18-15 overall and 10-10 in the league was, in Nagy’s mind, because of a lack of toughness.
“I’m not trying to rhyme,” he said, “but we’re too pretty and not gritty.”
Calvin agrees.
“It starts with me,” he said. “I’m a real cool guy on the court, real calm. But we’ve got to be more gritty and get more stops and not worry about offense.”
Nagy knows Calvin has it in him.
“He can get his shot any time he wants it. But honestly, I think the best thing he does — when he’s locked in and in a good frame of mind — is being a great on-the-ball defender,” Nagy said.
“You look back to Detroit when we played them at their place and what he did to Davis.”
Antoine Davis, who finished his five seasons with the Titans as the No. 2 scorer in NCAA history behind Pete Maravich, was hounded by Calvin all day and never found his rhythm.
Both finished with 34 points, but Davis needed 33 shots to get there, while Calvin took only 18.
“It was one of the most incredible individual efforts I’ve ever seen,” Nagy said. “To guard like that for an entire game and still score — I think it showed him he can do both.
“What we need him to do above everything else is be an incredible defender.”
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