Detroit ― Detroit Mercy men’s basketball won one game two years ago. And, yet, that’s where Tyler Spratt, a North Farmington High School graduate, wanted to play.
It didn’t work out right out of high school. The old head coach, Mike Davis, wasn’t much interested, and the new head coach, Mark Montgomery, was behind the eight ball in recruiting when he was hired in April 2024. So Spratt went off to another Horizon League school, Cleveland State, where he wasn’t happy, never played and eagerly hopped into the portal last spring.
Several schools called, and he set up some visits. But Detroit Mercy called first, that’s where Spratt visited first, and he committed on the spot. That’s a lot of blind faith in a program where faith ― and success ― long has been in short supply.
“It was a no-brainer,” Spratt, a redshirt freshman guard, said the other day before practice at Calihan Hall. “Seeing what was going on here, I wanted to be a part of that.
“I wanted to be a person that’s part of changing this narrative, and that’s what I said when I committed.
“And it’s come to fruition.”
Spratt is one of several Metro Detroiters who have keyed a mini renaissance in the hallowed halls of Calihan Hall, where Detroit Mercy (15-14, 12-8 Horizon League) will open the league tournament against Milwaukee (12-9, 8-12) at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. It was a first-round matchup few saw coming before the season, when Milwaukee was picked to win the league and Detroit Mercy was picked to finish ninth.
Instead, the Titans tied for third place with Oakland and Green Bay, having won five of their last six games ― including a 95-89 thriller against the rival Golden Grizzlies at the O’Rena on Saturday ― and seven of nine.
A win Wednesday and Detroit Mercy will advance to Indianapolis for the first time since the league tournament moved there, and away from Detroit, in 2020. A win Wednesday and the Titans would make the league semifinals for the first time since 2013.
Remarkably, Detroit Mercy is just three wins away from its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012, and it seems like a realistic task for a team that beat all but two teams in the Horizon League (No. 2 seed Robert Morris and No. 6 Purdue-Fort Wayne) this season.
Detroit Mercy is 2-0 against Milwaukee this season.
“I use the analysis or whatever you want to say, analogy, that a season is a marathon. The marathon is over now. It’s now almost a sprint to the finish line,” said Montgomery, who has coached in the NCAA Tournament 12 times as an assistant coach at Michigan State, over two stints, but never made it to the Big Dance during his previous head-coaching stop at Northern Illinois from 2011-21. “In our situation, we could be running the 300 because if we do win, we do go to the semis. But I’m gonna tell the team the hardest game is usually your first game, because if you can’t get out of the blocks or you false start, it really doesn’t matter.
“Every mid-major player already knows when you come to this league, it’s a one-bid league.”
Eight different schools have represented the Horizon League in the NCAA Tournament since Detroit Mercy last made it in 2012, including Oakland two years ago, when it stunned Kentucky in the opening round.
Oakland (16-15, 12-8) opens Horizon League tournament play at home at the O’Rena against Northern Kentucky (18-13, 10-10), at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Oakland swept that regular-season series. By losing to Detroit Mercy in the regular-season finale Saturday, the Titans got the better seeding, so the Golden Grizzlies could have to win as many as four more games to win the Horizon League tournament.
Detroit Mercy beat Oakland thanks in large part to senior guard Orlando Lovejoy, who scored 29 and went 9-for-9 shooting in the second half ― outdueling fellow Horizon League first-team point guard Brody Robinson.
Lovejoy, averaging 15.4 points this season and more than 20 over his last nine games, is a Detroit native on a team that has been built locally, with Spratt, sophomore guard TJ Nadeau (South Lyon), freshman point guard Lance Stone (Detroit) and redshirt senior forward Legend Geeter (River Rouge), who transferred from Eastern Michigan with Lovejoy two years ago ― and, like Lovejoy, decided to stick around for his final season.
“We’re all playing for the same goal and we all are enjoying it,” Geeter said. “You can’t beat that.”
Detroit Mercy was 8-24 in Montgomery’s first season, including 4-16 in the Horizon League. That’s where the lack of love in the preseason poll came from. In this era of so much player movement, preseason polls are mostly a wild guess, and mostly reflect where a team finished the year before.
But Montgomery had higher hopes on the inside than those on the outside, because of upticks in roster stability and talent. The offense averaged 10 more points a game this season than last. The defense has been mostly good enough, especially late in games. The depth has held up, because health has held up.
Spratt has been one of the biggest surprises, averaging 10 points while shooting 38% from 3-point range ― second on the team, only behind Nadeau, a Horizon League third-team selection who has shot 48%. Spratt made the league’s all-freshman team.
Spratt did that while playing where he always wanted to play ― with his sights, unbelievably but also realistically, now squarely on the NCAAs in what’s widely viewed as a wide-open Horizon League.
“It’s crazy. If I would be a part of it, like, that’s crazy,” Spratt said. “I don’t have the words for that.
“It’d be a dream come true, for sure.”
In the women’s tournament, Detroit Mercy (7-23, 4-16) opened with a 69-67 win at Milwaukee on Monday and plays at top-seeded Green Bay (22-8, 17-3) at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Oakland (10-20, 7-13), led by guard and Horizon League freshman of the year Makenzie Luehring, plays at Cleveland State (23-8, 13-7) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Horizon League men’s tournament
All games on ESPN+ unless otherwise noted
MONDAY
➤ Cleveland State 101, IU-Indy 93
TUESDAY
➤ No. 6 Purdue-Fort Wayne (17-14, 11-9) at No. 5 Green Bay (17-14, 12-8), 8
WEDNESDAY
➤ No. 10 Cleveland State (11-21, 6-14) at No. 1 Wright State (20-11, 15-5), 7
➤ No. 9 Youngstown State (15-16, 8-12) at No. 2 Robert Morris (21-10, 13-7), 7
➤ No. 8 Milwaukee (12-9, 8-12) at No. 3 Detroit Mercy (15-14, 12-8), 7
➤ No. 7 Northern Kentucky (18-13, 10-10) at No. 4 Oakland (16-15, 12-8), 7
SUNDAY
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Worst remaining seed vs. Second-worst remaining seed, 3:30
MONDAY, MARCH 9
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Best remaining seed vs. Sunday’s winner, 7, ESPNU
➤ Second-best remaining seed vs. third-best remaining seed, 9:30, ESPN2
TUESDAY, MARCH 10
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Championship game, 7, ESPN
Horizon League women’s tournament
All games on ESPN+ unless otherwise noted
MONDAY
➤ Detroit Mercy 69, Milwaukee 67
WEDNESDAY
➤ No. 11 Detroit Mercy (7-23, 4-16) at No. 1 Green Bay (22-8, 17-3), 8
➤ No. 9 Wright State (10-21, 6-14) at No. 2 Youngstown State (22-8, 15-5), 7
➤ No. 8 Oakland (10-20, 7-13) at No. 3 Cleveland State (23-8, 13-7), 7
➤ No. 7 IU-Indy (13-16, 9-11) at No. 4 Northern Kentucky (15-16, 12-8), 7
➤ No. 6 Robert Morris (18-11, 11-9) at No. 5 Purdue-Fort Wayne (18-12, 12-8), 7
SUNDAY
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Worst remaining seed vs. Second-worst remaining seed, 1
MONDAY, MARCH 9
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Best remaining seed vs. Sunday’s winner, noon
➤ Second-best remaining seed vs. third-best remaining seed, 2:30
TUESDAY, MARCH 10
At Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
➤ Championship game, noon, ESPN2
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: In wide-open Horizon League, Detroit Mercy men’s hoops says: Why not us?
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
