Davis played basketball for La Crosse Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He won a Division 2 state title as a freshman.[1] In his junior season, Davis averaged 23 points and nine rebounds per game, earning La Crosse Tribune Player of the Year honors.[2] As a senior, he averaged 27.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.[3] He was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball and repeated as La Crosse Tribune Player of the Year.[4] Davis left as his school's all-time leading scorer with 2,158 career points.[5] He committed to playing college basketball for Wisconsin over offers from Marquette, Iowa and Minnesota, among others.[6]
Davis also played football for La Crosse Central as a quarterback.[7] In his senior season, he earned Large Schools First Team All-State honors and won the Dave Krieg Award as the most outstanding senior quarterback in Wisconsin.[8]
College career
On February 2, 2021, Davis scored a freshman season-high 17 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, in a 72–56 win over Penn State.[9] As a freshman, he came off the bench, averaging seven points and 4.1 rebounds per game while leading his team with 34 steals.[10] On November 23, 2021, Davis scored 30 points in a 65–63 upset of Houston.[11] He scored a career-high 37 points and had 14 rebounds on January 3, 2022, in a 74–69 upset of Purdue.[12] As a sophomore, he averaged 19.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Davis was named Big Ten Player of the Year.[13] On March 31, 2022, Davis declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.[14]
Davis' father, Mark, played professional basketball for 13 seasons, including stints in the NBA, following a college career at Old Dominion. His twin brother, Jordan, originally played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers, before transferring to Illinois State and was his basketball and football teammate in high school.[19] Prior to the draft, Davis appeared in a Taco Bell commercial promoting the chain's Toasted Cheddar Chalupa.[20]