Suzi-Rose Deegan can’t see out of one eye. She leads Davidson on a historic win streak

Suzi-Rose Deegan couldn’t see anything while she was shooting a basketball.

At age 13, she’d spent four years redeveloping her two-handed shot while growing up in Perth, Australia. As she got stronger, without consciously realizing, her typical shot became heaving the ball toward the rim from the left side of her body.

Deegan, a 5-foot-10 fifth-year for Davidson women’s basketball, is blind in her left eye. Even now that she primarily shoots with her right side, she brings the ball across her face, as she loses the vision she needs to see the rim through her right eye as she starts her motion.

“I genuinely see it as an advantage — my shot is so unorthodox and unpredictable,” Deegan, the Wildcats’ leading scorer with 13.8 points per game, told The Charlotte Observer in a phone interview Thursday. “Everyone used to compare me to Lonzo Ball when I was younger, and it used to be much more of that sweeping motion that you saw Lonzo do.

“It goes pretty diagonal across my face, and I pretty much release it from the left side with my right hand. It’s definitely pretty interesting because my right hand is just across my whole face.”

She’s the leader for Davidson (12-1), which matched its longest win streak in school history with its 10th straight win Tuesday and received six votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll.

The Wildcats opened Atlantic 10 play Tuesday with a 69-50 victory at La Salle and host VCU at 2 p.m. Sunday. Their average margin of victory during this 10-game win streak is 23.1 points.

As a freshman at Davidson in 2019-20, Deegan was the Atlantic 10’s Rookie of the Year and first team all-conference after averaging 15.9 points. She battled injuries that limited her action over the next two seasons before averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds as a senior, both second-best on the team.

Deegan has played nearly every position on the floor for the Wildcats this year, including down low while redshirt senior forward Elle Sutphin — Davidson’s other returning go-to scorer — missed time with an injury.

“I’ve always known who she was, but I’d never played with her before,” sophomore guard Charlise Dunn, one of five Australia natives on the roster, told The Observer. “Actually having the chance to be on the same team with her right now is really fun.”

Deegan and Dunn, both among four Wildcats currently averaging in double-figures, play key roles on the team’s well-balanced offense.

Davidson briefly recruited Dunn, a 6-foot-2 guard, out of high school before she chose Virginia Tech and was part of a team that reached the Final Four as a freshman. She had ties to Davidson when she entered the transfer portal — having played with fellow Australia natives Millie Prior and Issy Morgan on the under-19 Australian national team.

Dunn, who also lived with Morgan at Australia’s “Centre of Excellence,” spoke with several of Davidson’s players on a personal level about their program and how she may fit into it. Head coach Gayle Fulks knew she liked what she saw from Dunn, so she let the players she knew lure her into the program.

After Davidson’s preseason trip to Spain, Fulks noticed that every game seemed to have a different leading scorer, or different top rebounder. It felt like many of the players would perform well in practices during the preseason, with players showcasing their strengths in various ways.

“It’s crazy to think about that, at that point, I’d only been here for two weeks, but it felt like I’d already known the girls for months,” Dunn told The Observer. “It’s such a close-knit community.”

Morgan, a 5-foot-10 junior point guard, also leads the way defensively and sets the tone with her intensity. Prior, an efficient scorer, leads the A10 with a 62.1% field goal percentage.

Junior guard Mallorie Haines is the nation’s leader in 3-point shooting percentage at 55.7%. She’s embraced being the team’s primary shooter this year, and Fulks has noticed her 3-point shot selection improve significantly.

Maddie Plank, a redshirt junior guard, started more games last year than she has this year. She finds herself being inserted into different roles this year and has become a glue piece for the team with her versatility and IQ.

“To me, what really showed up was a group that was talented but really had a strong will to compete and win,” Fulks told The Observer. “They didn’t really care how that went about. It didn’t matter who scores, it didn’t matter who plays well as long as we play well and win. That mantra has stuck with us throughout the season.

“Every game is its own beast, it’s different. Some teams aren’t gonna let you shoot any 3s, some teams are gonna double-team your post players. We need to adjust as the game is going.”

Deegan has played the most minutes of any Wildcat this year.

She feels her unique shot, which stems from her inability to see out of her left eye, has become an advantage. It’s hard to block, as defenders may not expect a right-handed player to release the ball from the left side with their right hand.

There are even times when Deegan is unfazed by defenders coming out from her on the left side — as she can’t see them. That makes for some interesting film room sessions, Deegan said, as she sometimes thinks she’s open when a defender is in her vicinity.

Said Deegan: “It’s a bit interesting being in Steph Curry’s school with such a terrible shot technique, but I’m trying to overcome the stereotypes.”