NCAA Basketball: 4 impact decisions affecting state of Michigan schools for 2022-23
By Ryan Kay
Antoine Davis – Detroit Mercy
On April 14th, Davis entered the transfer portal which was somewhat of a surprise.
https://twitter.com/Youngdvs13/status/1514673714364882956
His father is the head coach of Detroit Mercy and his brother is an assistant coach so his entering the transfer portal caught some people who closely follow college basketball and the transfer portal off guard and a bit surprised by his decision. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and prior to coming to Detroit Mercy, played for the Homeschool Christian Youth Association in Houston, Texas.
His leaving the state of Michigan would not have been shocking after playing four seasons for his father at Detroit Mercy. However, he left the door open to returning to the Titans when he put out a tweet 10 days after he was entering the transfer portal announcing the top schools he was looking at.
https://twitter.com/Youngdvs13/status/1518273291282231300?s=20&t=vMOn7xmZ3gzNTeaPKVarqA
Davis announced in the above tweet that he had narrowed his choices to five schools that included Maryland from the Big Ten, Kansas State from the Big 12, Georgetown from the Big East, and BYU even though they were not in the picture as well as Detroit Mercy. His putting the Titans down was a bit surprising as the thought process was that he wanted to possibly go to a bigger school for an opportunity for a big NIL deal.
At the time, It appeared through various social media interactions that Davis may have ended up at Kansas State or even Maryland. The idea of playing in bigger arenas, in front of larger crowds, and having more games on national television is tempting to any player from a mid-major school with offers to play at a power five conference school.
However, Davis’s situation was a little different from other players in the transfer portal as his father is the head coach of the Titans with his brother is an assistant coach on Detroit Mercy’s staff as well. Then on May 9th, he made a decision on where he wanted to play his fifth and final season of college basketball.
Davis announced via social media that he had “unfinished business” and is returning to Detroit Mercy. In a way, it was a very smart move by Davis to enter the transfer portal and see what else was available to him in terms of attending and playing for another university’s basketball program.
He ended up getting more national recognition as media outlets were following him as he visited other schools while in the transfer portal and he received an NIL deal with a company that produces GlowBalls and the agreement appears to be a six-figure deal as well for Davis.
In the end, he got a good, solid financial NIL deal, gets to play his final colligate season with his father and brother on the bench, and if he can average over 27 points a game, he has an opportunity to surpass Pete Maravich’s NCAA record for most points during a colligate career.
There has been story after story of mid-major players having a ton of success and then transferring to play at a bigger school. However, Davis chose to stay in Detroit and continue to play in the Horizon League conference for his last and final season in college. He has individual goals but he looks to lead his team to a conference championship and an appearance in the NCAA tournament with his father and brother with him courtside as he attempts to complete both tasks.
Read more about his decision to stay at UDM here: In-Depth Look