Johnell Davis Transfer Portal: Top 5 landing spots for FAU guard ft. Tennessee, Alabama and more
The Florida Atlantic Owls have yet another player entering the transfer portal this season in junior guard Johnell Davis. Incidentally, he`s also declaring for the 2024 NBA draft. This could mean that whatever school he plans to transfer to might miss out on his services if he does get drafted.
Either way, Johnell Davis is one of the best players in the portal this Spring as per ESPN`s Jeff Borzello. A 6-foot-4 scoring guard, Davis was an integral part of FAU`s magical run to last year`s Final Four as a No. 9. He averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists while shooting 48.3% from the field this season.
Now that he wants to see where else his basketball career could take him, here are five teams who could, on paper, use his talents as an efficient, high-level scorer.
These teams are in no way definitive choices and are just suggestions based on the caliber of players in a similar position who could leave them in the offseason:
5 potential landing spots for Johnell Davis after entering the transfer portal
#1. Tennessee
Johnell Davis isn`t averaging as many points as a lot of other, more notorious bucket-getters in college basketball. But he is scoring at an efficient clip, and that`s the best thing about him.
A high-scoring guard with the efficiency of a frontcourt guy is something that any team should want – not to mention someone who can also torch the nets from the outside.
Tennessee is likely losing the sweet-shooting Dalton Knecht to the NBA and will need somebody who could fill his spot. With Davis shooting an elite 41.% from deep this season, he could be a good candidate. He`s a little shorter than Knecht but is a better defender, so there`s a give-and-take situation here for the Vols.
#2. Saint Joseph`s
Compared to Erik Reynolds II, Johnell Davis seems to be quite of a similar scoring caliber. So if Reynolds gets drafted, they`ll have an easy replacement for him. If not, he could go as a sixth man--but things will remain up in the air.
The only big difference is that the FAU guard is once again a more efficient scorer on the same shot volume. He`s also a slightly better shooter from the outside and has clear experience leading an underdog team to victories – even in March Madness. Saint Joseph`s could use that kind of guy.
#3. Alabama
Starter Mark Sears is already a senior and his escapades in March Madness are likely drawing in NBA scouts. So, Alabama needs to look to retool its backcourt in the foreseeable future, and Johnell Davis should be a far better choice than a lot of other players on the portal.
Considering Davis is 6-foot-4 with good perimeter defensive instincts (1.4 steals/game this season), the Crimson Tide could gain a bigger body to boost their frontcourt compared to the smaller Sears. They might miss out on scoring, but not by much.
#4. Oakland
For the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, 3-point shooting was one of the biggest things that carried them through in this year`s March Madness. There`s now a better chance that the NBA could take a second look at senior guard Jack Gohlke based on what he did in this year`s tournament, and Johnell Davis could be a potential replacement.
The FAU guard is a better shooter and overall scorer, so Oakland gains two big upsides in one. For now, the only reason that they should give Davis a wide berth is that he`s also looking to potentially get drafted. This means he`s a one-year rental at least.
#5. Nebraska
Davis could also quickly step in and be a bigger body at Nebraska`s backcourt to potentially replace Keisei Tominaga. Both players are good at what they do, and the only benefit is that while Davis can shoot slightly better than Tominaga outside, he can also be quite a handful on defense.