Michigan Basketball: 5-star JD Davison surprises with U-M on top list

JD Davison is not your average high school hooper, he’s  ranked12th nationally and Michigan basketball is one of his preferred programs for his future.

Jerdarrian “JD” Davison went from the kid his much older brothers picked on, to the man all the youth in the poverty-stricken Lowndes County look up to.

He’s advanced from being the younger brother that couldn’t get past his siblings without being called for an infraction, to one of the best in the world. And he’s interested in what Michigan basketball has to offer.

https://twitter.com/jddavison10/status/1296617188959424514

Auburn, Alabama, Kansas, LSU, and Memphis are the others still in contention for Davison, per his Tweet.

Hailing from Alabama, the Montgomery Advertiser caught up with Davison jotted down their findings back in February.

And it’s worth the read. From the piece, you will get an understanding of how important loyalty and legacy are to the 2021 star point guard, and just how good JD is on the court.

“I’ve had Devin Booker and all these other talented kids,” Robert Shannon, a 17-year coaching vet on the AAU level, told the Advertiser. “But I’ve never had someone that does everything like that. He defends, he rebounds, he can score, he’s athletic, he can see the floor like no other guy we’ve ever had.”

Shannon isn’t kidding. Davison can do it all which is why he’s ranked within the top 15 and the No. 2 point guard in the land (No. 1 PG according to 247 sports internal rankings).

It’s the high basketball IQ, shooting ability at all three levels, defense, and his pulverizing dunks that set him apart from the rest of the class.

He developed those skills as part of Calhoun High School and for Alabama Fusion, an AAU team on the EYBL circuit. Calhoun is located in Letohatchee, 30 minutes due south of Montgomery, the state Capitol.

And while he’s received attention from all the major schools, It came as a surprise that Michigan basketball was in the mix for his services. In June, JD released his top ten and didn’t include the Wolverines.

https://twitter.com/jddavison10/status/1276320007048265729

There’s also no indication that Juwan or anyone on the staff has offered a scholarship. And coming from a guy who monitors recruiting very closely, Michigan isn’t mentioned anywhere in his recruitment.

In fact, in May, Corey Evans, a National Basketball Analyst for Rivals, updated JD’s recruitment and didn’t mention any program in the running north of Kansas.

Matt’s musings

U-M has four committed members in the 2021 including a point guard that is the highest-ranked prospect for the cycle. It couldn’t hurt to add another, and while U-M won’t turn down a five-star from joining the ranks, Michigan does have other positions of need before they can turn their attention elsewhere.

As I’ve stated many times, U-M must acquire a big man (or two), to backup or replace Hunter Dickinson in 2021, and then, only if there’s attrition, the program can find additional pieces.

Then again, Howard has quickly become someone that doesn’t worry about the scholarship situation. Just when you thought the 2020 class was going to go way over the prescribed NCAA scholarship limit, the ship righted itself.

Juwan is playing the long game while most of us are focused on the here and now. It seems coach Howard is employing his strategy without the public and media aware of his tactics. Otherwise, we might have seen the JD news coming.