Johnny Davis's Sophomore Swagger Blossomed in the Summer
MADISON, Wis. – Remember those posters you put up in your room of athletes you idolized? Who didn’t want to be like Mike? Who didn’t want to become a shooter like Kobe Bryant, a running back like Barry Sanders, or follow in the footsteps of the heroes in their region?
Wisconsin sophomore guard Johnny Davis currently has wall art that serves as his motivation, although his most recent addition – the gold medal he won at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup – serves a different purpose. It shows that he has the talent to be impactful.
“I look at it every morning when I wake up,” Davis said. “It reminds me of how well I can play.”
Well known in the state of Wisconsin entering this season, Davis’s name has started to become more mainstream after his performance in last week's Maui Invitational. Named the tournament’s most valuable player, Davis averaged 23.7 points (47.2 field goal percentage, 46.2 3-point percentage, 15-for-15 free throws), and 6.7 rebounds per game. He tallied career-high point totals in consecutive games, scoring 21 vs. Texas A&M to help the Badgers overcome an early 16-point deficit and then dropped 30 against No.12 Houston, the Badgers first win over a ranked opponent on a neutral site since March 2017. Davis capped his week with 20 in the finals against St. Mary’s, 11 coming over the final 7:49 to help UW erase a deficit.
Heading into Wisconsin’s tilt in Atlanta at Georgia Tech (5-1) Wednesday night, Davis leads the Badgers (5-1) in scoring (20.2), rebounds (5.6), assists (11), and steals (10).
“He can do everything,” junior Tyler Wahl said. “He’s a competitor. He plays good defense. He’s an offensive weapon, and he just gets the job done.”
Before the three days in Las Vegas, Davis had a profile that screamed potential. He came to the program with an impressive pedigree, a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, the state’s Mr. Basketball as a senior and La Crosse Central’s all-time leading scorer (2,158 points). Coming off the bench in all 31 games last season behind Wisconsin’s senior-laden frontcourt, Davis’s offense (7.0 ppg, 44.1 percent shooting, 4.1 rebounds) and defense (team-best 34 steals) caught the eye of Purdue head coach Matt Painter, who doubled as the chair of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee.
One of 27 players invited to the June tryout, Davis made the 12-man team. Serving mostly as a role player, Davis averaged 4.1 points and 1.7 rebounds over the seven games as USA finished with a perfect 7-0 record in Riga, Latvia.
“There was some really big names there, a lot of talent,” Davis said. “For me to be able to compete with those guys, outplay them, and make the team gave me a lot of confidence.”
Assistant coach Sharif Chambliss was hired on staff shortly after Davis earned his tryout spot and didn’t start really coaching him until summer workouts. Even with his brief window, Chambliss laid out his challenge to Davis.
“If this is what you want to do, you got to approach it as a profession even in college,” Chambliss said. “If you want to be good at something, that’s just the way you need to prepare for.”
Davis has responded in kind on both ends of the floor. In the five games he’s played (he missed UW’s loss to Providence with a heel injury), Davis has scored at least 15 points. He’s tied for fourth in the Big Ten in steals per game (2.2) and leads the team by drawing 4.6 fouls per game. After shooting 72.7 percent on free throws last year, Davis is up to 91.3 percent from the foul line.
His ballhandling has improved, his shot looks more confident, and his competitiveness has the Badgers as one of college basketball's surprising teams in the month of November.
Who needs a poster when a freshly minted gold medal serves the purpose of morning motivation?
“He said it to me this summer that, Coach, I don’t care about the individual stuff, I just want to win,” head coach Greg Gard said. “I want to help our team win. It’s great. He had a terrific week in Vegas, and now he’ll see a different approach from opponents. He’ll be highlighted and there will be more film on him. He’ll have to continue to improve, be more consistent and continue to grow his game.”
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