Arkansas Basketball: 2020 guard Davonte Davis commits to Razorbacks

Just 11 days after de-committing from Oklahoma State, 6’4 PG Davonte Davis (4-star, composite top-100) has announced he will be joining the Arkansas Basketball and coach Eric Musselman.

In a quick-developing turn of events, Eric Musselman secured a critical first piece to his 2020 recruiting class when he heard the announcement that 6’4 PG Davonte Davis (ESPN national no. 79), of Jacksonville, AR will be joining Arkansas Basketball.

Davis, had been a long-term Oklahoma State pledge, but announced his de-commitment from the Cowboys on October 1st and was in Fayetteville for an unofficial visit by the 5th. He chose the Razorbacks over an impressive list of suitors that included Texas Tech, Auburn, Oregon, Florida and others.  He is expected to officially sign during the early signing period that is just a month away.

In Davis, Arkansas will be getting a tremendous play-maker who has high IQ and court-vision and uses his lengthy frame to get to the rim at will and be a pest on the defensive end.  The lefty, lead-guard is a standout at Jacksonville High School and garnered a good amount of attention during the grassroots season with an uber-talented Woodz Elite 17U squad that advanced to Peach Jam where he averaged just short of 20 points and five rebounds per contest.

This is a huge recruiting win for Musselman for a number of reasons.  Davis is a good example of what the coaching staff is looking for at the point guard position.  While he is still developing consistency with his outside jumper, he possesses the type of length, play-making ability, and defensive intensity that Musselman covets.  The door is open for Davis to make an immediate impact next season on a team that will be graduating one point guard, Jimmy Whitt, and is only scheduled to return a senior in Jalen Harris.

Additionally, this emphatically begins to answer the questions as to whether or not Musselman will be able to successfully recruit freshmen at a high level at Arkansas.  Muss relied heavily on the transfer portal and junior college talent when building his program at Nevada, but will need to attract more high-end prep talent to have sustained staying power in the SEC.  The commitment of Davis, as well as the early commitment of class of 4-star, 2021 6’8 PF Duncan Powell (ESPN and Rivals top-150) is certainly a good start.

Lastly, Davonte Davis is one big piece of what is arguably the most talented in-state class Arkansas has seen in decades that also includes the likes of Moses Moody, Jaylin Williams, Chris Moore, KK Robinson, and recent Kansas transfer Isaac McBride.  In fact, Davis was teammates with both Williams and Moore over the summer with Woodz Elite.

Will the commitment of Davis serve as the first piece of the puzzle and push others to stay home and join the Razorbacks?  Time will tell.  As it stands now, though, Arkansas fans should be very pleased with the early progress of Musselman and his staff.  The program certainly appears to be headed in the right direction.