Recruiting Report: Brad Davison (2017)
For months and months fans were wondering when Minnesota would offer Maple Grove 2017 Brad Davison and today, after two more strong EYBL games, the Gophers offered the 6-3 combo guard after a few viewings from Head Coach Richard Pitino.…
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Continue ReadingFor months and months fans were wondering when Minnesota would offer Maple Grove 2017 Brad Davison and today, after two more strong EYBL games, the Gophers offered the 6-3 combo guard after a few viewings from Head Coach Richard Pitino.
What was Brad’s immediate reaction as the clock hit near bed time on Thursday night?
“It is really special to get an offer from your hometown school, it means a lot!” Brad told Prep Hoops this evening.
Davison is a special talent. If you want to talk numbers let’s do that first. Brad is averaging 16.3 points per game in EYBL play with 4.4 rebound and four assists a night. He’s also shooting 41.7 percent from the arc on 103 attempts, he’s made 86.2 percent of his 87 foul shot attempts, and has made just over half of his 190 field goals. Not to mention 76 assists to 29 turnovers on a team that is now 34-5.
Similar high school numbers? Absolutely. Brad took his team to the state tournament averaging 21.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 6.4 rebounds a game.
Looking past the numbers, Brad is also a tremendous leader. He’s the type of vocal guy that can instantly pick up the defense with his verbal and physical intensity plus he’s good in direction. He does that on the offensive end as well when playing point behind Tre Jones, playing the off-guard next to Jones, or playing lead guard at his high school.
Brad has previously shown the ability to create for others and create for himself in a big way. He’s a leader who has been the quarterback of his football team (one of the biggest schools in the state) since day one of his freshman year and now he’s also shown that he can shoot at the highest level, defend at the highest level, and overall compete at the highest level.
Davison has always had some interest in the University of Minnesota. It’s a known fact that his family has had season tickets to games at Williams Arena for many years and they’ve been fans of the program.
In February of this year he told NHR “I grew up watching the Gophers and hope they can find success. I have not heard from them for over a year”.
Rewind things two years ago to when we talked to Brad about the Gophers and he said the following about the program.
“I went with my family as guests to a couple games last year sitting behind the bench and I really like how they play getting up and down, playing progressive defense. I really like what Pitino has done with the program. I like to get up and down and Minnesota plays with a lot of transition. I like getting in transition setting my teammates up for chances so I really like the way they play, it’s really fun.”
That was July of 2014 and here we are July of 2016. Davison has been the guest of Minnesota several times but not this past winter as Brad hadn’t really heard much from the program, until recently. Brad also told us he hasn’t moved on or shut the door on the possibilities of playing for the Gophers.
That said he has taken several visits to the many schools that have offered. Those visits include Stanford (an official), Northern Iowa, Dayton, Butler, Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. He also has offers from Georgia Tech, NC State, Davidson, and numerous others although many are getting the feeling he would like to stay relatively close to home.
What will the decision come down to? This is what he recently had to say.
“It will come down to a few different things, but the most important is the relationship with the head coach and his staff,” Brad said. “That is not the only factor but it is one of the most important factors.”
Davison starts football season in about a month so during visit season he will be tied up with trying to take his team back to state. Will a decision come before that point? If it does Coach Pitino has to make up for some lost time as Brad has stressed relationship with the coaching staff. If he takes more time, which he does seem to have considering all of his options, the chances for the Gophers could increase.
Expect to hear more about Brad playing with the Pulley Panthers, and more on this scholarship offer in the days to come here at Prep Hoops.