One of the most exciting incoming players for Head Coach Kenny Payne is 6-foot-7 JUCO product, Koron Davis. Originally from Gary, Indiana, he has spent the past few seasons traveling the south and western parts of the United States. His first stop in his post-high school career was in Paris, Texas where he played for Head Coach Bill Foy at Paris Junior College, and his final stop before Louisville was at Los Angeles Southwest College.
As a senior in high school, Koron Davis improved his points per game average from 22.9 in his junior year to 26.1 in his senior year. He also averaged 7.5 rebounds per game as a 6-foot-6 guard. But unfortunately, the landscape of high school basketball is so heavily focused on AAU programs nowadays, and Davis didn’t play on a major AAU circuit during his senior year, so that is largely the reason why he was so under-recruited.
He committed to Paris Junior College in Texas out of high school and thought he would stay there. Once he arrived in Texas, he saw his point production decline slightly to 15.7 points per game, but he did add 6.6 rebounds per game as well. The scheme at Paris JC did not work out for him, so he was forced to seek a new collegiate home. He then transferred to Los Angeles Southwest to both play for more exposure in the City of Angels and to play his natural position: point guard.
I had the opportunity to speak with his former Head Coach while he was there. His name is Mack Cleveland, a native of the southside of Chicago, but has found his home in Los Angeles.
When asked about what position Koron Davis played, Coach Cleveland responded enthusiastically with “he was my point guard.” The point guard position has been a talking point for Louisville all off-season. The burdensome load on El Ellis last season exposed Louisville’s dire need for another ball-handling guard, which they got in Illinois transfer, Skyy Clark. But, El Ellis decided to transfer to Arkansas, so Louisville was looking for another point guard.
And with Koron Davis standing at 6-foot-7, it was assumed by many that he would play the shooting guard position or even the wing. But, his former Head Coach confirmed that he played point guard and was productive at that position. Last season in Los Angeles, he finished the season averaging 23.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game and shot over 81% from the free throw line.
According to Coach Cleveland, there was a point in the season when Koron was averaging 25 points per game and even up to 27 points per game. He’s a natural scorer and can fill up the scoreboard, as evidenced by his point production dating all the way back to high school when he averaged 22 points in his senior year at Bowman Academy.
While he was at Los Angeles Southwest, Davis was recruited by several schools. According to his coach, there were several unnamed Pac-12 schools who were recruiting him, and Assistant Coach Will Bailey at Saint Louis University was recruiting him hard. But, Kenny Payne and Nolan Smith were also recruiting him hard.
Coach Cleveland said that Kenny Payne and Nolan Smith both went out to watch him play. He said, “The recruitment came together faster than I expected.” One of the reasons he was sold on coming to Louisville was because not only is it a Division I program, but also because he wanted to come back to the region where he is from. As mentioned earlier, he is a native of Gary, Indiana, which is only about a four-hour drive from the University of Louisville.
So, it was a win by all accounts. He gets to continue his academic and athletic career at a Division I university, it’s closer to home, and the coaching staff really wanted him. Expect impressive things from him this coming season.