Cruz Davis

[Polito]

DP86, appreciate the question and the thoughts from your end. I don't necessarily agree with all the bullets you've listed though. I do agree he's a solid PPG game guy, and an efficient shooter... better efficiency than most we've had.

TT, all due respect to him as one of us, but he was atrocious in efficiency - took a million shots to score his 20+, it was painful to watch for me.

Personally, I would take Green and Estrada and JWF all day long. Green was criminally underrated - tremendously high IQ player. He just completely bombed the biggest game of his career and botched the dance. But that dude was one heckuva guard. Estrada is hard to beat as an all-around player and leader, and JWF was an absolute phenom at the mid major level. Unstoppable guard. Cruz isn't any of that, and he definitely isn't going to start on a FF team next year. Just my opinion though, others may see differently.

He does have a strong attribute in his defensive effort - he certainly may be better than all of HU's POY's before in that regard. And not downplaying that at all, a huge part of the game.

Where do I think he can improve?

- Has way too many TO's in big spots for a star guard. His passes are often errant (right idea but poorly timed / executed) and his dribble is often broken up (either by his own sloppiness or by a defender he's allowed to get too close).
- Completely disappears for 20-30 minutes from literally every single game. That's not a POY to me. That's not a reliable star / leader to me. That's a very inconsistent player. Never know what he's going to do or when he'll decide to do it.
- Zero mid range game. All 3's or driving. There's a third scoring level he doesn't display (yet).
- Leadership - I don't see much of it yet personally. Maybe he is, but I'm not a fan of the 'quiet' leaders - always a bit of a copout. I'd like to see him take more decisive control of the team on the floor. Guide, direct, mentor, coach, motivate, lead. Haven't seen it consistently yet.


Cruz is a very good player, very glad he's at HU, and I agree he likely is the best of an unexciting group of candidates in the CAA this year. And I'll say he has an even higher ceiling than what we see now - he's got another year left, he CAN be much better than he is, and that's a testament to him. I think he could be a national level player if he comes back and improves on the above for his Sr year. I'm a fan. I just need to see more personally to put him in that 'takeover guy' category.

Lead the team to the dance and he'll erase that doubt. That's one thing NONE of the rest have done. Do that, and he'll cement his place.

[dutchPride86]

Although this article spends more time talking about Pitino's impact on him than his time here, nice piece on Cruz in the NY Post...

https://nypost.com/2026/03/05/sports/cr ... t-hofstra/

[triplec2195]

Although this article spends more time talking about Pitino's impact on him than his time here, nice piece on Cruz in the NY Post...

https://nypost.com/2026/03/05/sports/cr ... t-hofstra/

Nice article TY for posting it so I wonder with the injury he had at St John's is that why he always has tape on his left hand? It certainly hasn't seemed to bother him!

[Jojogunne]

Reading this article makes me wonder: would Patino try to lure Davis back to St. John’s for his final year next year?

[Wags]

Although this article spends more time talking about Pitino's impact on him than his time here, nice piece on Cruz in the NY Post...

https://nypost.com/2026/03/05/sports/cr ... t-hofstra/

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.

Meanwhile, Cruz's current coach is the running for his own honor:
https://x.com/HofstraMBB/status/2029585042255561065
https://benjobeaward.com/

[HUSID74]

The Cruz story in the Post is awesome! Too bad our own LI Paper could care less about Cruz and or Hofstra.

[triplec2195]

The Cruz story in the Post is awesome! Too bad our own LI Paper could care less about Cruz and or Hofstra.

Yeah they would rather create a story about nothing really relevant concerning that basketball team in Queens!!

[daHUPride]

The Cruz story in the Post is awesome! Too bad our own LI Paper could care less about Cruz and or Hofstra.

they are the worst, Newsday.
always last to the (Hofstra success) party(s)

[daHUPride]

DP86, appreciate the question and the thoughts from your end. I don't necessarily agree with all the bullets you've listed though. I do agree he's a solid PPG game guy, and an efficient shooter... better efficiency than most we've had.

TT, all due respect to him as one of us, but he was atrocious in efficiency - took a million shots to score his 20+, it was painful to watch for me.

Personally, I would take Green and Estrada and JWF all day long. Green was criminally underrated - tremendously high IQ player. He just completely bombed the biggest game of his career and botched the dance. But that dude was one heckuva guard. Estrada is hard to beat as an all-around player and leader, and JWF was an absolute phenom at the mid major level. Unstoppable guard. Cruz isn't any of that, and he definitely isn't going to start on a FF team next year. Just my opinion though, others may see differently.

He does have a strong attribute in his defensive effort - he certainly may be better than all of HU's POY's before in that regard. And not downplaying that at all, a huge part of the game.

Where do I think he can improve?

- Has way too many TO's in big spots for a star guard. His passes are often errant (right idea but poorly timed / executed) and his dribble is often broken up (either by his own sloppiness or by a defender he's allowed to get too close).
- Completely disappears for 20-30 minutes from literally every single game. That's not a POY to me. That's not a reliable star / leader to me. That's a very inconsistent player. Never know what he's going to do or when he'll decide to do it.
- Zero mid range game. All 3's or driving. There's a third scoring level he doesn't display (yet).
- Leadership - I don't see much of it yet personally. Maybe he is, but I'm not a fan of the 'quiet' leaders - always a bit of a copout. I'd like to see him take more decisive control of the team on the floor. Guide, direct, mentor, coach, motivate, lead. Haven't seen it consistently yet.


Cruz is a very good player, very glad he's at HU, and I agree he likely is the best of an unexciting group of candidates in the CAA this year. And I'll say he has an even higher ceiling than what we see now - he's got another year left, he CAN be much better than he is, and that's a testament to him. I think he could be a national level player if he comes back and improves on the above for his Sr year. I'm a fan. I just need to see more personally to put him in that 'takeover guy' category.

Lead the team to the dance and he'll erase that doubt. That's one thing NONE of the rest have done. Do that, and he'll cement his place.

I agree with Polito's assessment of Cruz.

Polito and his Cruz down memory lane - and a look back at recent standout guards at HU after Jenkins eras.

Green (was underrated and very smart), JFW (was a mid-major phenom), and Estrada (was a terrific) all-around leader.

Buie also deserves a mention, as others have said here. He was a true point guard who, after a season-ending injury his freshman year, improved every year at HU.

I think one thing Cruz hasn’t had is a solid, consistent teammate to run with or rely on. Edmead is one of the best, and if both stay another year—fingers crossed—they could be one of the top one-two punches we’ve had here.

As for others, we saw Green with Benardi, Koon, Gustys, and Tanksley; JFW with Buie, Eli P, Coburn, and Gustys; Buie with Ray, Kante, and also JFW and Eli; and Estrada with Carlos, Tyler Thomas, and Dubar.

That said, I really like Cruz and think he deserves to be mentioned among HU’s elite guards and as a top candidate for CAA Player of the Year.

But man, Green, JFW, Buie, and Estrada were really something special.

[Polito]

I know most everyone loves and fawns over JM and Speedy, and I have a very high respect level for both, but the fact that they couldn’t produce a dance with Green JWF or Estrada is absolutely criminal. Completely inexcusable, even with Greens tank job.

The squandering of top talent by HU has become a ‘thing’ and it needs to get corrected. With Speedy having the POY AND the ROY, a first ever in this conference no less, he really ‘should’ be expected to win and dance.

NCAATs should be a STANDARD here, something we expect to happen every few years, not a genie wish list item where we wonder if we’ll see another in our lifetime. All this stuff proves the talent is there, it’s the coaching in question.

Alas my frustration has gotten the better of me in this post. I’m certainly grateful for the talent and that this is the complaint vs having zero shot at all!

Let’s see if Speedy can get the job done this time with his awarded top talent…