Johnell Davis is going to play college basketball for John Calipari at Arkansas next season. The former FAU guard officially withdrew his name from the NBA Draft pool on Wednesday after entering the transfer portal at the start of April.
Meanwhile, his former head coach is at Michigan.
Davis was widely considered to be the best backcourt player in the transfer portal after deciding to leave Boca Raton. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 26 per minutes per game during the Owls’ run to the Final Four in 2022/23. He averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.3 minutes last season.
It was expected that Johnell Davis would follow Dusty May to Ann Arbor. There wasn’t much discussion about any other program. He was going to play his fifth year of eligibility with the Wolverines.
And then the transfer reportedly hit a snag with admissions.
As has been the case in the past with players like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Caleb Love, the University of Michigan denied Davis admission. Its rigorous standards for transfers would not allow him to be admitted.
Not long after getting turned away, Davis pivoted toward the University of Arkansas. John Calipari arrived to Fayetteville without a single player on his roster and quickly went to work through the portal.
Johnell Davis committed to the Razorbacks on May 1st.
Although he was signed with Arkansas, the 23-year-old continued to gauge interest from the NBA and went through the pre-draft process. He withdrew his name from the NBA Draft pool on Wednesday.
Now, after initially leaving FAU to join May at Michigan, Davis has decided that it is in his best interest to play one final year on the collegiate level. Perhaps John Tyson’s chicken money played a role?