Davenport University Men's Basketball Schedule 2023-2024: What To Know

The Davenport men's basketball have been on a roller coaster ride—tourney champs to last place. Will that turn around? Here’s a look at the schedule.

Dec 11, 2023 by Matt Cannizzaro

Davenport University Men's Basketball Schedule 2023-2024: What To Know

The Davenport University men’s basketball team’s stock is trending upward, but the Panthers do have something to prove this season.

Davenport finished in the cellar of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last year, posting a 3-15 mark in conference play on the way to a 7-21 overall record. The effort was a huge slide for the Panthers, who rallied in 2022 as the No. 8 seed to claim the program’s first win at the GLIAC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The memorable run ended in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Davenport’s first appearance in the event, and the skid continued into the 2022-2023 season, which started with four consecutive losses.

Despite the 10th-place finish in the GLIAC standings a year ago, the Panthers finished tied for seventh in the 2023-2024 GLIAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, voted on by the league’s coaches, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that the Davenport roster includes the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year—Marcedus Leech Jr.

The honor landed Leech on the conference’s preseason first team, while his new teammate, Myles Belyeu, was selected to the second team.

Leech, a redshirt junior guard, averaged 20 points per game last season, along with 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and nearly a steal per game. He was an All-GLIAC first-teamer, as well as an All-Region second-team selection.

Belyeu, a redshirt senior, is a transfer and is expected to make an immediate impact, despite redshirting for the 2022-2023 season. He saw limited action with Southern Indiana the year before, and that followed three seasons at Saginaw Valley State, where he was a first-team All-GLIAC selection as a sophomore during the 2019-2020 campaign.

In all, Davenport added eight new players this season—four transfers and four freshmen.

Here’s a look at the Davenport University men’s basketball schedule for the 2023-2024 season.

Davenport Men’s Basketball Schedule 2023-2024

All Times Eastern

Date	Day	Time	Home/Away	Opponent	Location
Nov. 10	(Fri)	6 p.m.	Neutral	William Jewell	Kansas City, MO
Nov. 11	(Sat)	4 p.m.	Away	Rockhurst	Kansas City, MO
Nov. 17	(Fri)	6 p.m.	Neutral	Minnesota Crookston	Kenosha, WI
Nov. 18	(Sat)	6 p.m.	Neutral	Minnesota Duluth	Kenosha, WI
Nov. 21	(Tue)	7 p.m.	Home	Great Lakes Christian	Grand Rapids, MI
Nov. 24	(Fri)	7:30 p.m.	Neutral	Lincoln	Erie, PA
Nov. 25	(Sat)	TBA	Neutral	Georgian Court	Erie, PA
Dec. 6	(Wed)	8 p.m.	Away	Northwood	Midland, MI
Dec. 8	(Fri)	8 p.m.	Away	Grand Valley State	Allendale, MI
Dec. 16	(Sat)	4 p.m.	Home	Kuyper	Grand Rapids, MI
Dec. 19	(Tue)	7 p.m.	Away	Central Michigan	Mount Pleasant, MI
Jan. 2	(Tue)	2 p.m.	Home	East-West	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 4	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Home	Northern Michigan	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 6	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Home	Michigan Tech	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 11	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Home	Wayne State	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 13	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Home	Saginaw Valley State	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 18	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Away	Ferris State	Big Rapids, MI
Jan. 20	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Away	Lake Superior State	Sault Ste. Marie, MI
Jan. 25	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Home	Parkside	Grand Rapids, MI
Jan. 27	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Home	Purdue Northwest	Grand Rapids, MI
Feb. 3	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Home	Grand Valley State	Grand Rapids, MI
Feb. 8	(Thu)	8 p.m.	Away	Saginaw Valley State	University Center, MI
Feb. 10	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Away	Wayne State	Detroit
Feb. 15	(Thu)	8:30 p.m.	Away	Purdue Northwest	Westville, IN
Feb. 17	(Sat)	4 p.m.	Away	Parkside	Kenosha, WI
Feb. 22	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Home	Lake Superior State	Grand Rapids, MI
Feb. 24	(Sat)	3 p.m.	Home	Ferris State	Grand Rapids, MI
Feb. 29	(Thu)	7:30 p.m.	Away	Michigan Tech	Houghton, MI
2-Mar	(Sat)	1 p.m.	Away	Northern Michigan	Marquette, MI
6-Mar	(Wed)	TBD	Neutral	TBA (Quarterfinals)	TBD

When Is The GLIAC Men’s Basketball Tournament?

The 2024 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 6-10 (March 6 (quarterfinals) and March 9-10 for the semifinals and final).

In 2023, the higher seed in each of the four quarterfinal matchups played host. Then, the highest remaining seed among the semifinalists was the host for the semifinals and championship. The plan is the same for 2024.

The tournament winner earns an automatic berth into the Division II Men’s Basketball Championship.

When Is The 2024 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship?

The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship takes place in March of each year.

Following the completion of the conference tournaments is a formal selection show, during which the 64 teams for the national postseason bracket are announced.

The first 23 teams are the automatic bids given to the conference champions. The remaining teams are selected by a selection committee. The spots are distributed evenly among the eight Division II regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West).

The road to the national championship will continue with the regional competitions – the opening round of play (Round of 64), Round of 32 and Round of 16 across eight locations — from March 16-19. Essentially, it’s eight single-elimination regional tournaments.

The eight regional champions are the Elite Eight for Division II, and they all converge on a pre-determined location for the final three rounds of play.

In 2024, this will take place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, from March 26-30. Specifically, the rounds (Elite Eight, semifinals and final) will take place on March 26, 28 and 30, respectively.

Nova Southeastern defeated West Liberty to claim the Division II men’s title in 2023.