4. I was expecting this Jake Davis for the Illini
When Illinois landed the offseason haul of freshmen and transfer portal players, I thought we could be the deepest team in the country.
The freshmen were going to make an impact, but I didn’t see Kasparas Jakucionis being this good this quickly. Among the transfer portal players, I thought the top guys were going to be big impactful newcomers. I was also curious about what Jake Davis could do on the court.
Davis had only spent one season in the college ranks, and he performed well at Mercer. He was able to shoot from anywhere on the court, so I thought he would fit in seamlessly with what Brad Underwood wanted to do.
Through the first 12 games of the season, Davis had only suited up in 10 contests, and he really wasn’t receiving minutes. He would play sparingly, and in those 10 games, he had a total of 14 points.
On Thursday night, it finally happened. Illinois fans got to see the Davis I was hoping we would get from the transfer portal. This kid looked like a big-time contributor off the bench.
Davis finished the Oregon game with 12 points, which was a season high by double his next best. He shot 5-of-6 from the field and made both three-point tries. Davis was hustling everywhere on the court, and this hustle enabled him to be in the right place at the right time for some key buckets or rebounds.
Keep an eye on Davis’ minutes in the coming games. He has now hit double-digit minutes in the last two contests, and his play is really starting to gel with the rest of the team. This could be a huge development in the quality depth on the Illinois roster.