Johnny Davis Still Being Challenged As Special Season Nears Its End

MADISON, Wis. – The highlight tape Johnny Davis is going to be sending to NBA executives in the coming weeks is going to be lengthy and impressive. The sophomore has shown a penchant for scoring in different ways during his breakout season, as well as crashing the glass and facilitating the offense to a Big Ten championship.

But before it’s all done, head coach Greg Gard expects more from Davis in the days and weeks to come, and he’s anxious to see where it can go.

“I want him to get better defensively, I want him to be a better ball handler (and) continue to improve his shooting,” he said. “That won’t end. My responsibility is to challenge him and keep putting things in front of him to get better at. Johnny knows. I think he’s just scratching the surface of things he can improve upon.”

It’s hard to believe that Davis can get much better this year. He’s the only Big Ten player to lead his team in points (20.3), rebounds (8.3) and assists (2.3) and has been even better in 19 Big Ten games, ranking second in points (20.4 ppg) and third in rebounds (9.1 rpg).

On Tuesday, Davis finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to help Wisconsin (24-5, 15-4 Big Ten) clinch a share of the Big Ten title with a 70-67 win over Purdue. The Badgers can win the title outright if they can beat last-place Nebraska (9-21, 3-16) at the Kohl Center Sunday afternoon (1 p.m./Big Ten Network).

While no official declaration has been made for Davis, it’s widely believed that the sophomore will declare for the 2022 NBA Draft sometime after the season.

“He’s probably not likely (coming back),” assistant coach Sharif Chambliss said. “When a person is a projected lottery pick, it is what it is. You can’t hold that back, and I would say he’s Ready with a capital R.”

Davis has readied himself due to a tireless work ethic, mostly instilled by his father, Mark. Having a 13-year professional basketball career, Mark pushed his twin boys, Johnny and Jordan, in drills and workouts to polish their skills and embrace challenges.

Gard first laid eyes on Johnny early in his high school career at La Crosse Central and remembers the “look” in his eye as he attacked pressures. In large credit to his dad, he also saw a player who is willing to be pushed.

Combine that with the confidence instilled in him for making the U19 USA Basketball squad and winning a gold medal with them over the summer, Davis turned from cautious to tenacious.

“Not that he ever didn’t think he was the best player in the gym, but you could see it on his face,” Gard said. “Even the first day he came back and it was, whoa, ok.”

Davis is shooting the same percentage this season as he did last season (44.1) but how he’s getting his points is completely different. Instead of being reliant on the three-point shot (just 32.7 percent), Davis has not shied away from putting his head down and looking for contact.

When Chambliss was hired last offseason, one of the first things the former all-conference Badgers guard got on Davis with all the things he needed to do to play professionally. One area was finding ways to score when the jump shot isn’t perfectly in sync.

In UW’s win at Rutgers last Saturday, Davis missed 13 shots, and was 4-for-10 in the second half but drew fouls in the lane to get to the line. He was 6-for-7 on free throws in the second half.

“He’s attacking the basket so hard that he’s still getting contact,” Chambliss said, as Davis is third on the team in free-throw percentage (78.5). “I think as long as he keeps staying with that aggressive play, it’ll pay off for him in the end. He should be able to score eight-to-10 points from the free-throw line because he’s so aggressive to the hoop.”

Chambliss says that Davis needs to work on playing off two feet more, getting set for a higher percentage on his jump shots. But in the same breath, the Catch-22 is Davis has such a knack for scoring that he can do things with one foot that some people can’t do with two.

“He’s such an athletic talent when he gets downhill, some of the plays he makes off one foot are good players for him,” Chambliss said. “There’s not good plays for everyone, but he’s able to knife through two defenders, Euro step to get through there. It’s difficult. You can’t tell him not to do it because he can do it.”

It’s on those plays, attacking double teams or outmaneuvering a taller forward for a layup, where Davis’s competitiveness comes out. In addition to scouting him on the basketball court, Gard remembers watching him play a high school football game and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when – as a receiver – he felt a penalty was missed.

With the departure of six seniors from last season creating a leadership void, Davis – with only one year of college experience coming off the bench – challenged himself to be a leader with his actions. And when the best player on the team treats every practice with game-like intensity, those around him are willing to step up to match it.

“He makes everyone play harder and obviously makes us better,” forward Steven Crowl said. “That helped us early in the year because when we got to the games, (the physicality) wasn’t a big shock because we do it every day in practice. That mindset is because of Johnny.”

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