Jaylen Davis, the first of three freshmen we will cover in this series, is a 6’5 wing out of Kentucky. Davis enjoyed a successful career during his high school years, averaging 22 points per game and making his name known as a 2023 Mr Kentucky Basketball Finalist.

Davis proved to be a lethal perimeter threat for his high school team, hitting deep shots from all over the court as a ball handler and spotting up. A good amount of usage was assigned to Davis as a ball handler and he showed the ability to maintain his dribble in traffic and find open guys.

Double-teams were sent his way often and Davis was always quick to use that leverage and get the ball to a man with a scoring opportunity. The ball looks smooth coming out of his hand and it feels like his touch at all levels makes him a versatile scorer on offense. He hit several tough mid range jumpers with hands in his face over the course of his season. The difficult shot-making flashes displayed in 2022-23 are a dimension much needed by this LU squad.

On defense, he has active hands and enough length to reach into the pocket of the ball handler and poke balls loose. His versatility as a defender is intriguing and will be fascinating to see as he is matched up against bigger guards and wings at the college level.

His pace on offense is another thing to take notice of. He never really panicked when receiving pressure on the ball from the defense, but maintained his dribble and kept his eyes up. Like I said before, it seems like his shooting will be the main thing he brings to the table right away, as he drained countless shots from outside this past year without the ball even touching the rim.

This gives him an immediate reason to get minutes as a young player if he can prove he can immediately be effective enough as a defender. His athleticism is also noteworthy. In addition to his impressive dunks in transition, Davis is a smart cutter who can catch the defense sleeping at times.

In one game, he sprang a sudden buck cut from one wing as a guard from the other wing threw up a lob for him and Davis finished with emphasis over the other team’s big man. Three things you never truly have enough of are shooting, athleticism, and defensive versatility and it looks like Davis could potentially be very solid in all these areas as he learns and develops his game.

Davis brings an offensive pop and his potential as a shooter, cutter, and perimeter defender should be a nice addition to this squad and also a nice development narrative as he goes through his college career.

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