Davis was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where his father, Mike Davis, was a member of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball coaching staff under Bob Knight.[1] He started training for basketball at age 12 and worked with well-known coach John Lucas II in Houston, Texas.[2] In part to continue his partnership with Lucas, he was homeschooled from seventh grade through high school and played basketball for Houston Homeschool Athletics (aka HHA Mavericks, fka SATCH Mavericks), a private homeschool support organization based in Houston.[3][4] Davis played for Houston Hoops on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) circuit and averaged 23 points per game as a senior for HHA.[5] A consensus three-star recruit, he was considered undersized, at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 150 pounds (68 kg), and did not receive offers from any major NCAA Division I programs.[6] After originally signing with Houston, Davis walked on to Detroit Mercy, where his father had been appointed head coach.[1]
College career
Davis scored 32 points in his debut for Detroit Mercy against Western Michigan. He had 42 points against Loyola (MD) several weeks later, setting a Detroit freshman record.[2] Davis scored 48 points in a win over Wright State, hitting 10-of-15 three-pointers. In the season finale, Davis scored 30 points versus Northern Kentucky, and the Titans finished 11–20. Davis finished the season with 132 three-pointers, surpassing the NCAA freshman record of 122 set by Stephen Curry. He became the first freshman to be named to the First Team All-Horizon League team since Gordon Hayward.[3] Davis had 23 games in which he scored 20 or more points, and his 784 points was one behind Rashad Phillips' single-season school record 785 points in the 2000–01 season.[7] Davis was the third-leading scorer in NCAA Division I with 26.1 points per game, to go with 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.[8]
On February 29, 2020, Davis scored a season-high 43 points including two clinching free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining in a 90–88 victory over IUPUI.[9] Davis was named to the First Team All-Horizon League at the conclusion of the regular season.[10] He led the league in scoring with 24.3 points per game while also averaged 4.5 assists per game.[11]
Davis passed the 2,000 career point mark on February 25, 2021, in a semifinal Horizon League tournament game against Robert Morris. Davis scored 46 points, three shy of the school's single-game scoring mark, while connecting on 10 three-pointers.[12]
Davis was named the 2022 Horizon League co-Player of the Year alongside Jamal Cain of Oakland. Davis also became the first player in Horizon League history to be named to the First Team All-Conference in four straight seasons.[13] After that season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal, signaling an intent to explore other options for his final season of athletic eligibility.[a][14] However, he remained open to returning to UDM for his final season, listing it as one of his five finalists on April 24.[15] On May 9, he announced that he was returning to UDM.[16]
During his final season at UDM in 2022–23, he reached several statistical milestones. First, on December 1, 2022, he became the Horizon League's all-time leading scorer, passing Alfredrick Hughes of Loyola Chicago.[17] Nine days later, Davis became the 11th Division I men's player with 3,000 career points.[18] Davis' next milestone came on January 14, 2023, when he passed Wofford'sFletcher Magee for the most career three-pointers in D-I men's history.[19] Davis has since moved into second place on the all-time D-I men's scoring list behind LSU great Pete Maravich, passing Portland State'sFreeman Williams on January 21, 2023.[20] On February 27, 2023, Davis repeated as the Horizon League Player of the Year. In the process he became the first player in league history to be named to the all-league first team five times.[21] Davis finished his career with 3,664 points, three points shy of the all-time scoring record held by Maravich.[22]
Davis' father, Mike Davis, is the previous head basketball coach at Detroit Mercy. Mike has coached various NCAA Division I teams, including Indiana, where he was an assistant to legendary coach Bob Knight before succeeding him.[30] Davis' older brother, Mike Davis Jr., is an assistant coach for Detroit Mercy.[31]
^Normally, Davis would have exhausted his athletic eligibility after the 2021–22 season. However, the NCAA ruled that the 2020–21 season, which was extensively disrupted by COVID-19, would not be counted against the eligibility of any basketball player.