(Update: Deyonta Davis declares for the NBA Draft, signs with an agent. Therefore, he will forgo his eligibility. Here is the link to the school’s press release. Below is the Deyonta Davis feature we ran a couple weeks ago)
Michigan State big man Deyonta Davis is anything but a verbose guy. At McDonald’s All-American Game Media Day last year, he gave short answers; like wise when MSU came to Northwestern in late January. However he can also be efficient with his answers.
When asked how Tom Izzo sold MSU to Davis during the recruiting process, he replied:
“He just really wanted me to be the next Adreian Payne,” Davis replied.
“When he came here, he would only give you one-word answers,” said Associate Head Coach Dwayne Stephens said. “He’s gotten a lot more comfortable, sociably, and he can now carry on a conversation and he’ll ask about how my family is doing.
The next Adreian Payne? Sounds good to all involved in the MSU community. The 6-9 or 6-10 (depending on the source) forward from Muskegon is a true post player- something Michigan State could certainly use more of. Although Davis is just nine blocks away from the school single season record, he’s certainly flying under the radar this season.
Overshadowing him is Matt Costello, a really underrated key contributor. You already know Denzel Valentine, the alpha dog. He’s a leading candidate to win all the national player of the year awards. Second banana is Bryn Forbes, who is quite possibly the college basketball equivalent of a splash brother.
And Payne is of course a great basketball role model, as he stayed for four years, had a great college hoops career and was selected 15th overall in the NBA Draft in June before being traded to Minnesota.
Of course, no one expects Deyonta Davis to stay all four years. There’s a lot of talk about him being one-and-done. That makes sense given how he’s projected to be a late lottery pick. Yes, Davis hasn’t produced all that prolific. He certainly has a lot to learn yet. As we see every year, countless times, the NBA Draft values height over stats and production though.
Davis could come out this year and develop into a quality NBA big in his third or fourth season. It may take that amount of time. Look at Meyers Leonard; or Steven Adams.
Coach Tom Izzo extolled his virtues following State’s win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
“After Deyonta struggled in the first half, he responded. Coaches always love when players respond. And I thought that was the best part of the night,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the challenging. Worry about the responding. Kids don’t respond if they don’t respect. So if they are responding, they are respecting the coaches or the other players or, in this case I think, both. And that’s an awesome thing this day and age.”
Although Michigan State just won the Big Ten Tournament championship, it’s not predictive at all of how they’ll do in the NCAA Tournament. MSU basketball fans should not read too much into their impressive performance this past week in Indianapolis.
In 2014, they were everybody’s pick to win it all (POTUS himself slotted them to cut down the nets) yet they got bounced by UConn in the Elite 8. Part of the reason everyone was so high on them? They marched right through the Big Ten tournament with authority. Again, it didn’t matter.
This NCAA Tournament, MSU is the trendy pick to win it all. They have also become the new Duke- every national pundit and broadcaster slobbers all over them. Which makes Izzo the new Coach K. Say bye-bye to the days of Michigan State being niche. Right now they are as national mainstream as it gets.
Now is the chance for Deytona Davis, the team’s fifth leading scorer and third leading rebounder, to step up.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram