Player Profiles: #22 Will Archambault

When I was citing Davidson's four freshman to my friends before last season started, there was always one guy that I kept forgetting. We obviously had an incredibly talented guard from Charlotte coming in, we had a really really tall guy that would hopefully develop into a force in the paint, and we had Mr. Maine! Oh yeah, and that Max clone guy from Canada.

By November 15, 2006, I quickly learned that just because he went to the same high school in Canada, Will Archambault was no clone of Max. I mean this guy had a lot of hair on his head, unlike the freshman-year aero-dynamic Gosselin.

I also learned on that November day that Archambault would probably get a considerable amount of playing time during his freshman year. The sharp-shooter finished with 19 points on four three-pointers in just 22 minutes played. And it wasn't just that he hit four treys, it was from where he hit them. The Archer took several shots with his feet right on the line - the out-of-bounds line.

Although Archambault showed flashes of brilliance at the beginning of the season, a minor injury forced him to sit out the annual rivalry game against Charlotte. Even when the Archer returned to D-I action against UT-Chattanooga, he was visibly off and looked lacking in confidence. He ended up averaging single digit points for the rest of the month of December.

Archambault seemed to shake off his rough month by getting back to his bread and butter...shooting. By the end of the season, Will ranked third on the team in most shots per minute played behind Stephen Curry and Bryant Barr. Archambault finished the year with 55 three-pointers made and an average of 7.8 points per game.

While a lot of unfounded criticism was placed on Davidson for shooting too many three-pointers in their NCAA tournament loss to Maryland, there is some truth to the claim that the Wildcats need to work on their intermediate scoring game in the half-court offense. While Archambault may seem like just another three-point assassin, the rising sophomore actually has an incredible arsenal full of moves and athleticism.

As Kevin Cary pointed out time and again, Archambault has the size to be effective in rebounding and shooting situations close to the basket, and yet he has the speed and quickness to force turnovers one-on-one and to run with Davidson's transition gameplan.

Look for Archambault to log some very important minutes at the top of Davidson's 3/4 court pressure as well as some very important opportunities to throw daggas from the three-point line.