Las Vegas Prospects guard wants to enjoy recruiting process, in no rush to commit

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, July 26, 2014 | 2 a.m.

On the Las Vegas Prospects' first possession Thursday in the Fab 48 at Bishop Gorman, point guard Jordan Davis wasted no time in making a statement.

He aggressively took the ball to the basket for a contested lay-in, confirming he’d be the best player on the court that afternoon. There was no hesitation, just confidence in his ability.

Steps away from the basket sat a handful of college coaches scouting the event. Some of the coaches have been in contact with Davis frequently over the past three weeks. More appear to be close to reaching out.

The 6-foot-2 rising senior at Canyon Springs High de-committed last month from Eastern Washington, opening his recruitment and immediately drawing more than his share of interest.

He verbally committed last winter after taking a recruiting trip. It was his first visit and he fell hard for the Big Sky Conference school, even though he wouldn’t be able to sign a letter of intent for nearly a year. Verbal commitments are nonbinding.

But when Davis starting making the rounds this spring and summer with the Prospects, his AAU team, he realized what he was missing — being recruited.

By committing early, Davis wasn’t able to go through the process of being courted. He wanted to hear from coaches about how they planned to develop his talents, or how he could be the missing piece to help their program reach another level.

“I wanted to experience recruiting more,” Davis said. “Just going with the first thing thrown out to me, I didn’t get to see the world. To do it right, you need time. I loved the staff at Eastern Washington, but I rushed into things.”

Davis said he has scholarship offers from Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and Hawaii. He’s received interest from Cal, Idaho, Portland and Loyola Marymount. He hopes to take multiple recruiting trips to soak in the experience and sign in the fall.

“It’s probably the second most important decision you will make in your life behind who you are going to marry,” Prospects coach Anthony Brown said. “So, take your time with it. Go through the process.”

Davis averaged 16.3 points per game last winter for Canyon Springs, helping the team repeat as Sunrise Region champions and advance to the state championship game. He mostly played shooting guard during the playoff run because the Pioneers had one of the valley’s best seniors at the point in Shaquile Carr.

With Carr and Gerad Davis, Jordan’s older brother, the focal points of the Canyon Springs attack, Jordan Davis admits he wasn’t at his best late in the season. He needed to be more involved.

That helps explain how he’s found his stride with the Prospects as their primary ballhandler, always forcing the tempo on offense and successfully finding the balance between attacking the rim and getting others involved. The improvements are obvious.

“He has shown what he can do (at point guard),” Brown said.

Davis frequently wears his emotions on his sleeve — whether it’s disappointment after missing a shot, anger when being fouled, or a grin from ear to ear when he’s at the top of the game. He’s been all smiles lately, especially in the Fab 48.

“I took an oath to myself after the state game to go harder to the rack when (playing) against bigger players,” Davis said.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.