USC is on the board with its first basketball commitment for the 2022 class in 6-8 point guard Zachary Davis of Denmark-Olar. Davis took an unofficial visit to USC Monday and met with head coach Frank Martin and recruiter Brian Steele. Steele had seen Davis in action, and he and Martin made the offer.
Davis committed on the spot.
“It felt amazing. I was just shocked that this really happened,” Davis said. “My recruitment picked up over a year. It started out with an NAIA school and now I have a D-1 offer and committing to South Carolina. I always dreamed about going there and playing. Me, my teammates and my father went to a game my middle school year, and I remember just walking in the arena and just saying, I want to play here one day. I want to be a star player. I’m going to be wearing my favorite number (#2). Just a little kid’s dream growing up. I just can’t believe my dream came true.”
Last season Davis averaged over 16 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds per game. He casts a tall figure with the ball in his hands running point, and his willingness to distribute the ball also sets him apart.
“They say my game is just unique,” Davis said. “The feel I have for the game, the passes I make, the way I can get my teammates open is unreal. They’ve never seen a 6-7, 6-8 point guard that would rather pass up his shot to get his teammate open. Just makes everybody happy. Everybody likes to play with me because I’ll give them the ball before I take a shot.”
You want find Davis’s name on any top 50 list right now. He doesn’t have a bunch of stars by his name. His other offers are from SC State, USC-Upstate, Jacksonville, Radford, North Carolina A&T, Lees-McRae, SC Faith A&M and Voorhees. He also knows people didn’t know Ja Morant coming out of high school.
“I feel like I was a star in the closet, but now they can see the light,” Davis said. “I’m starting to brighten up. I’m just lighting up out of nowhere. My ninth grade year, I played on the freshman team, and nobody knew about the freshman team. Then I moved over to Demark with my dad, everything’s been clicking, just putting in the work.”
Davis said he will scheduled an official visit with the Gamecocks and he will sign with them in November.
