Top prep guards in the country face off
Davison, Clark take to the court in Memphis showcase
J.D. Davison, his team up by two points with under 30 seconds to play, threw the ball away.
The errant pass — intercepted by T.J. Madlock in the waning moments of Wednesday's intrasquad exhibition game — gave the other half of Hoop City Basketball Club a chance to tie. But Davison, the No. 2 Class of 2021 point guard in the country (according to the 247 Sports Composite ranking system), did what point guards are supposed to do.
Trailing the play, he rebounded Madlock's missed layup and led a fast break to the other end where he fed Mason Miller for an easy bucket. Davison wasn't done, though. The 6foot-3 five-star from Letohatchee, Alabama, came away with a steal at the 10-second mark and threw down a two-handed dunk for good measure as time expired.
“If you didn't like that, then you don't like basketball,” said Bob Thornton, a veteran NBA assistant coach, who is serving as a guest instructor at Hoop City BC'S Pro Week activities.
The contest was also a chance to
pit Davison against Skyy Clark, the top Class of 2022 combo guard in the nation. Prior to Wednesday's game at Freedom Assembly Christian School, Clark said he was looking forward to locking horns against Davison for the first time.
“It's good, because there's a debate about which is the better class, 2021 or 2022,” he said. “So, I've got to put on for 2022.”
Which he did.
Clark finished with 20 points and seven assists. But the victory, the style points and the bragging rights went to Davison, who led all scorers with 34 points and contributed 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.
“That's me being the point guard,” Davison said. “That's me being a leader and making sure everyone comes together and wins the game at the end. I won (bragging rights), but (Clark) did his thing. He's tough. I was just competing against another top player in the country and having fun with it.”
Scott Cherry, a former head coach at High Point who was a member of the 1993 North Carolina national championship team, is also working as a guest instructor. He labeled Davison and Clark “really high-level guards,” but said he was impressed by several other players including Madlock (32 points, eight rebounds), Johnathan Lawson (24 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) and Mason Miller (17 points, seven rebounds). Madlock's father, Tony, is an assistant coach at Memphis, while Miller's father, Mike, was an assistant with the Tigers before stepping down last month.
Wednesday's game was streamed live on Facebook since the COVID-19 pandemic has led to restrictions on inperson recruiting. A second exhibition game is set for noon Thursday and will also be broadcast live on Facebook. Hoop City BC President Ernie Kuyper said Tuesday he expected more than 100 Division I programs would be tuning in to the livestream.
“I got them together at halftime, I told them, 'Guys, it's not just about putting the ball in the basket,'" Cherry said. "Coming from my experience, the people that are watching now on Facebook, they're looking for all those little things. The extra pass, the slipping in and helping on defense, maybe taking a charge, blocking out. The college coaches and scouts that are watching are paying attention to all those little details. They want to know that when they get you, how much do they have to teach you?”
Davison and Clark are both being recruited by Memphis, along with a host of other schools. Davison narrowed his list of scholarship offers down to 10 in June. Without going into specifics, he said he might soon add an 11th school to his list of finalists. Davison, who was being recruited heavily by Miller when he was still on Penny Hardaway's staff, said Miller's departure doesn't necessarily change how he views the Tigers.
“I'm still going to treat them like Mike is still there,” he said. “And, if I commit to them, he's going to treat me like I'm there and he's there with me.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.