"He's a really courageous player with the ball in his hands," says Davidson coach Bob McKillop.
Hockey was Cochran's first love while growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and although it's been a few years since he laced up his skates and played, his experience in the sport is evident every time he steps onto the basketball court.
"I think it helps me," says Cochran, who played center and left wing in hockey. "When you get knocked down, you just get back up again. In hockey, it's no big deal. I think I try to apply that to basketball somewhat. And some of the concepts are the same, getting open and seeing the floor kinda how you see the ice. I think it all kinda translates."
A 6-foot-3 junior, Cochran came off the bench — as part of Davidson's second line — and chipped in 9.1 points, 1.7 assists and two rebounds per game last season. He had four games of 20 points or more and scored a career-high 29 in Davidson's win over Elon on Feb. 24. His 88 percent free throw shooting was the best in the Southern Conference, and his 37.6 three-point shooting percentage was the best on a Wildcat team that shot 34.4. In his final 19 games, Cochran was red hot from the perimeter, connecting on 45 percent of his attempts (44-of-98).
"He's instant offense," says McKillop.
Though he started just once in 33 games, Cochran was pivotal in some critical moments, including in a turning-point win for Davidson Jan. 29 at home against College of Charleston. He scored 21 as Davidson emerged from losing seven of eight games to start a stretch that included nine wins in 10 games.
"Last year, coming off the bench, I just wanted to be aggressive, come in and try to attack, whether that's scoring or playmaking or defensively, just attack and make things happen," says Cochran, who started in last Saturday's exhibition against Lenoir-Rhyne and scored a game-high 19. "And I don't see, whether starting or coming off the bench, that changing much this year."
Though hockey was his primary sport early in life, Cochran shifted his focus to basketball, largely because he was only five feet tall in the eighth grade.
"That was kinda the drawback for hockey at the time," he says.
While attending Champlain St. Lambert High, where he was not yet on Davidson's recruiting radar, he remembers the school conducting a video conference with two notable alumni, who had just made a run to the NCAA's Elite Eight. It was Davidson's Max Paulhus Gosselin and Will Archambault.
"It was a pretty big moment of pride at my school because we had two guys there," says Cochran.
Gosselin graduated the year before Cochran arrived at Davidson, but Archambault's senior season was Cochran's first in a Wildcats uniform.
Moving from Vancouver to Davidson resulted in some culture shock, as one might expect. For Cochran, there has been one significant difference, from a sports perspective.
"Not a lot of rinks, I've realized," he says. "It's so different. Back home, every little community center has an ice rink attached to it."
Cochran may still miss the ice, but he's also loving his time on Belk Arena's hardwood.
