Arizona Makes the Cut for Power Forward De’Ron Davis
By Mark Barrera
Sean Miller hopes to continue having a big, physical inside presence. With Arizona losing three players at the PF and C positions after this season, quality depth will be needed.
The top player in the state of Colorado, De’Ron Davis, has narrowed his list down to three schools: Texas, Indiana, and Arizona. Davis would be part of the 2016 recruiting class.
Here are my top three schools in alphabetical order.......
— De'Ron Davis (@DDavis2016) July 29, 2015
https://twitter.com/DDavis2016/status/626498437492551680
A 6’9″ 235 lb 4-star PF, Davis is currently ranked as the #31 player in the country according to Rivals.com. The front court after this season will be very thin. Arizona will need to hit it big with recruits to fill the space.
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For the last four years, Sean Miller has spoiled Arizona fans with a dominant inside presence. Take a look at this list of players who have owned the block: Aaron Gordon, Brandon Ashley, Kaleb Tarczewski, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Stanley Johnson.
This upcoming season we still have Tarczewski being the anchor in the paint. He will be joined by Sophomore Dusan Ristic, senior Ryan Anderson, transfer senior Mark Tollefsen, and freshman Chance Comanche. But after this season, Dusan Ristic and Chance Comanche will be the only returning players down low.
The 2016 recruiting class currently only has one commitment, albeit a big commitment: T.J. Leaf, 5-star, 6’9″ PF. Leaf will be a great addition to Arizona, but one area he currently lacks in his the physical presence down low. Enter De’Ron Davis. I’ve watched his highlight videos over the past couple of days, and he can definitely be the physical presence in the paint. Here is what he showed at the 2016 Adidas Gauntlet.
Right away you can see how big he is. It might be only an inch, but he looks to be more 6’10” than 6’9″. He some nice post moves in the paint, but will need to work on his footwork to be more crisp in the paint. What is impressive is his shooting from all over the floor. He has a soft touch around the hoop, as well as when he steps outside of the paint for his mid-range game. In most of his videos and scouting, you can see he can stretch his shooting even to 3-point range.
Davis is deceptively athletic. I say this because at first, when you see him move, he seems a bit heavy footed. This could be due to him putting on good weight and learning to play with his new size (just ask Tarczewski how different it is). But once you make the mistake of thinking he’s slow, he will blow right by you to the basket. An even better thing you can see right away is his defensive presence. He can body up with other bigs, even being able to over power them, block shots, get steals, and crash the boards.
March 14, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller (left) silences the crowd as Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott (right) speaks after the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference tournament against the Oregon Ducks at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Wildcats defeated the Ducks 80-52. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
De’Ron knows he has work to do to become a complete player. Sean Miller doesn’t shy away from letting his current players, or incoming recruits, know what work needs to be done. Here is a comment Davis made to insidethehall.com, when asked about Sean Miller:
“Coach Miller has seen me improve my body. He basically is telling me to work. On the phone he tells how much harder I need to work and I want a coach that pushes me to get better and that’s what sticks out about Arizona.”
Some kids don’t like to hear this when being wooed by coaches. They want to hear how great they are, how they’ll be the best player to come out in a lot time, or how the offense will be centered around them. With looking at De’Ron’s comments, and reading other articles about him, this is a kid who wants to work, get better, and help his team win.
Wildcat Nation, I suggest you keep an eye on this kid. He has work to do, but from what I have seen, his work should be done while wearing the colors of red, white, and blue.
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