Antonio Davis (95 views)

[jhb]

Antonio Davis
PF
6'9"
215
22
UTEP

Not someone who has been high on many front offices' radar, there has been some recent grumbling among the scouting community about Davis that is picking up steam lately. Lightly recruited out of high school and a good athlete who made it to college basketball mainly because of a late growth spurt, Davis has shown major growth in his time at UTEP and may project to be one of the few 4-year college players in this draft that still has some significant projection left. A springy athlete who is stronger than his 215 lb frame would indicate, Davis is a late bloomer that should still have some untapped potential that a team looking for a project in the paint can access.

Like many other athletes new to basketball, Davis relied mostly on being more athletic than his competition and being able to slam home dunks in a crowd early in his college career. Lately he's shown the makings of some back-to-the-basket ability though he needs to be better about finishing once he gets himself into position to score. Davis's jumper has come a long way in his time in college and he's begun sinking a fair amount of mid-range jump shots out to 20 feet. While he could be more consistent with his shot at the free throw line, he's also shown tremendous improvement there (which is good because he bulldozes his way to the charity stripe quite a bit for a wiry guy). He's not much of a passer and doesn't tend to dribble much once he gets the ball, he's generally looking to finish once he's got it in his hands. On the boards, Davis needs to improve, showing only average rebounding ability on both ends in college. Defensively, he's got a little bounce and shot-blocking ability and he can hold his own in the post.

At this point Davis is far from a sure thing, but as we've said, he's gained some steam with scouts who think he has a lot of room to continue to grow and develop his game further and don't be surprised to see him go higher than you may expect come draft time.