Sewickley Academy grad Droney begins senior season at Davidson
When Tom Droney arrived on the campus of Davidson College in 2009, he made history as the first freshman to start every game for the Wildcats basketball team under coach Bob McKillop.
But 25 games into his sophomore campaign, Droney was regulated to a bench role for what he described as a lack of aggression.
Now a senior, Droney is back on the court as a starter and is focused on being a leader.
“I put a lot of work in this summer,” the Sewickley Academy grad said. “With it being my senior year, I want to contribute to the team as much as I can. I have been gaining confidence with my shot and have been getting more aggressive. Those are the two biggest things I focused on.”
Droney is averaging 15.7 points per game for Davidson — second only to De'Mon Brooks' 17. It is an increase from his junior (4.2 ppg), sophomore (3.8) and freshman (4.6) seasons.
Getting to play quality minutes during his early seasons with Davidson, Droney said helped him get accustomed to the college game faster.
“It was a big adjustment,” Droney said. “I was somewhat used to playing really talented players in AAU. But it was different. Players were bigger and faster. Playing defense from high school to college is like night and day.”
Davidson has become one of the most well known mid-major NCAA Division I basketball programs in the country. Under the guidance of McKillop, a 24-year coaching veteran, Davidson has appeared in six NCAA tournaments since the 2004-05 season and captivated college basketball fans with the play of Stephen Curry from 2006-09.
“Coach McKillop has had so much success here,” Droney said. “It is cool to play for him. We are synonymous with Steph Curry and what he did here, but we have worked hard to create an identity since he left.”
The Wildcats have started 0-3 but have had a difficult out-of-conference schedule. Davidson has lost to two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 — No. 4 Duke (111-77) and No. 25 Virginia (70-57).
While it isn't the start Droney wanted to see, he does enjoy the difficult schedule the Wildcats play. Davidson still has games with North Carolina, Georgia and Wichita State left on its schedule.
“It is a lot of fun,” Droney said. “A lot of us idolized these teams growing up. I was a Duke fan when I was a kid. But you have to look past the jersey. They put their shoes on the same way as we do. It is fun but you can't get caught up in who you're playing.”
The clear benefit of playing some top teams is it will prepare the Wildcats for the Southern Conference tournament. Davidson has won the last two conference tournaments and with the team jumping to the Atlantic 10 next season, Droney said the team wants to go out on top — though it won't be easy with talented teams from Elon, Western Carolina and College of Charleston.
“We have dominated the conference recently so we want to continue that,” Droney said. “We would rather be (3-0) than (0-3) but we want to be playing our best basketball in March and hopefully April. We need to get better each and every day.”
And if Droney get his way, his college career will end up in the NCAA Tournament.
“It was one of my dreams growing up to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Droney said. “It is such a special event.”
Nathan Smith is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at nsmith@tribweb.com or via Twitter @NSmith_Trib.
