Davonte Davis to withdraw from draft, return to Arkansas
Arkansas guard Davonte Davis announced Wednesday that he is withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft and returning for his senior season in Fayetteville.
Davis, a native of Jacksonville, has spent three seasons in Fayetteville under head coach Eric Musselman. He had a career-best season in 2022-23, when he averaged 10.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game per game.
An SEC All-Defensive team selection in 2022-23, Davis had a team-best 3-point percentage of 34.6% among those who regularly played. Across his final 24 games of the year, Davis averaged 12.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 44.1.% from the field and 38.5% from three.
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard proved once again that he is best when the lights are the brightest with his performances against Illinois and Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
Davis recorded 16 points, six rebounds and four steals during the first round win over the Illini. Arkansas' upset over 1-seed Kansas wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for Davis' 25-point performance. He scored 21 points in the second have — 11 of which came during an 18-5 run that erased a 12-point deficit.
As part of a four-man 2020 recruiting class, which saw the first one-and-done in program history in Moses Moody joined by a second-round draft pick in Jaylin Williams, Davis could now be the third player taken in the NBA Draft from the class.
A four-star freshman in 2020-21, Davis was an essential piece of Arkansas' Elite Eight run in 2021, when he emerged as a high quality slasher and defender. He finished his freshman campaign averaging 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Those numbers bumped up to 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament that year.
His impact was felt more than just in the box score, with memorable plays and big-time moments like hitting a game-winner over Oral Roberts, hiking the ball between his legs for an open shot, and locking down Texas Tech guard Mac McClung en route to the Sweet Sixteen.
Those plays as a true freshman set the tone for Davis' Razorback career: he would perform the best when the lights were brightest, eventually earning the monicker "March Devo."
That carried over to his sophomore season, when Davis averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and a career-best 2.8 assists per game. Davis played another key role in the postseason, averaging 31 minutes and 7.8 points per game for an Arkansas team that reached its second straight NCAA Tournament.
Davis was one of four Arkansas players that had declared for the NBA Draft while maintaining college eligibility. Houston transfer Tramon Mark and Louisville transfer El Ellis both have already taken their names out of the draft, while freshman Jordan Walsh still hasn’t made a decision.
Arkansas has added five transfers since the end of the 2022-23 season. If Walsh returns the team will be at the 13 maximum.