Friar Basketball Newsletter: How Davonte "Ticket" Gaines Took Off In His First Year Under Kim English at George Mason, Previewing Xavier, Friars Head to Spain
Kim English had high praise for George Mason-to-Providence graduate transfer Davonte “Ticket” Gaines when meeting with the local media prior to his team’s upcoming trip to Spain.
In particular, English praised Gaines for his preparation and commitment to being ready upon returning from a wrist injury last season that kept him out for a month. Mason was 17-6 with Gaines in the lineup in 2022-23, and 4-6 without him. The Patriots went 7-2 in the final nine games after his return.
The loss of Gaines (and another sharpshooter in Victory Bailey Jr.) for an extended period of time greatly altered the look of English’s offense in 2022-23. George Mason ran more through the post, and played less of the style from a year prior in which they set school records from beyond the 3-point arc.
The 2021-22 season was English’s first as a head coach. He welcomed the 6’7, 180 pound Gaines, who had seen limited playing time in two seasons at Tennessee. That immediately changed during his junior year, as Gaines finished fourth at Mason in scoring (10.2 points per game), first in rebounding (8.1), and played in all 30 games, while shooting 51% from the floor and 40% from beyond the 3-point arc. His 2.2 offensive rebounds per game were good for third in the Atlantic-10, and he ranked eighth in the conference in rebounding overall.
Between his career at Health Sciences Charter School in Buffalo, and then during a prep year at Hargrave Military Academy, Gaines had long been a stat sheet stuffer. In fact, he had three quadruple doubles at Health Sciences.
Gaines has the feel of an Al Durham or Justin Minaya — a fifth year player who can impact the game in a variety of ways.
“We’ve very connected,” English said of Gaines in an interview with Friar Basketball last week. “He knows what I’m thinking, what I’m seeing. He knows all of our positions, one through five, our rotations, and he’s just a great defender and a great shooter.”
That connection will be critical as Providence transitions to the English Era this year, and Gaines is a player who has already proven he can make an impact without necessarily being ball dominant.
During his junior year, Mason was led in scoring by Josh Oduro at over 17 points per game, followed up by D’Shawn Schwartz (a 9+ ppg scorer at Colorado who saw an expanded role with the Patriots), and then three point marksman DeVon Cooper was third. Gaines made the most of his opportunities in 2021-22. He was a double figure scorer on a 15.2% usage rate (which ranked him in the 23rd percentile in usage that season).
Ticket’s 1.098 points per possession ranked in the 94th percentile in the country. He was equally as effective in transition (90% in points per possession) or halfcourt (93rd), and he ranked in the 98th percentile against zone defenses and 88th versus man. The bulk of Gaines’ looks came from spotting up, where his 88 total possessions greatly outpaced any other play type. However, Gaines did finish 14 possessions as a pick and roll ball handler, and 18 others as a roll man.
Gaines shot a terrific 68% on shots at the rim, and 40% in catch and shoot opportunities (86th percentile). He attacks the offensive glass (97th percentile at his position in offensive rebound rate in ’21-22), with a free throw rate that also ranked in the 97th percentile.
This is a long-winded way of saying that Gaines was a nightly double double threat who didn’t require many touches and shot it at a very high clip — a player who defended, rebounded, and brought energy plays.
Plus, Gaines played well regardless of the competition: 14/10 in a win at Maryland, 13/10 versus Washington, 17/7 against Nevada, 15/12 at 2022 national champion Kansas, 17 boards versus St. Louis, and 17/9/4 when playing an eventual NCAA Tournament team in Richmond.
A critical reason why Providence was able to win 27 games two seasons ago, and reached the Sweet 16, was the play of Durham and Minaya — two players whose impact went far beyond the box score. They were selfless, strong defensively, and seemingly made winning plays all season. If the Friars are to make noise in March in 2024, a similar impact from Gaines would go a very long way.
More from Friar Basketball:
Hear from Bryce Hopkins and Kim English as they met with the media before heading to Spain this week.
Subscribers can read our preview of Xavier, as Sean Miller is coming off a season in which his club finished second in the Big East and reached the Big East Tournament finals and the Sweet 16. Miller saw terrific success with Conference USA transfer Souley Boum running the show last season, and he will likely rely heavily on three new transfers from that league this year. This article examines the players who left, Xavier’s freshman and transfer recruiting classes, a potential key matchup against the Friars, and more.
As part of our Xavier preview, we also have a pair of videos on transfers Quincy Olivari and Dayvion McKnight. These videos show every field goal attempt in a pair of notable games for each player last season. Both Olivari and McKnight were All Conference USA selections last season.
Finally, if you missed it last week, check out our sit-down with Kim English and Steve Napolillo, in which we discuss a number of topics regarding the state of PC basketball. English and Napolillo provided great insight.