College Basketball

How Wisconsin Badgers' Johnny Davis found a new gear

Updated Jan. 6, 2022 8:16 p.m. ET

By Andy Katz
FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

Systems don't win games in major men's college basketball.

Players do.

And Wisconsin has one of the best this season — possibly the National Player of the Year who was not on any preseason first-team All-American list.

At least, not one that can be found.

Johnny Davis has burst like a rocket onto the national scene for Wisconsin, in the Big Ten, and likely pushed himself into the lottery in the 2022 NBA Draft.

How did this happen?

It's a twin thing: Jordan and Johnny Davis talk about playing with each other at Wisconsin

Wisconsin guards Jordan and Johnny Davis talk with Andy Katz about facing Iowa, wanting to stay together at Wisconsin, and how often they've tried to fool people by switching places.

Davis was a seven-point scorer as a freshman on a senior-laden team. Sure, he was going to get the shots, the looks and the run for a Badgers team that allegedly was going to lean heavily on super-senior Brad Davison.

But this? Dropping 37 on Purdue in a win over the No. 3 team in the country in West Lafayette? Putting a 30-spot on Houston in the relocated Maui Invitational semifinal in Las Vegas en route to an MVP award after the Badgers beat Saint Mary’s on Thanksgiving week?

Come on. Who saw this coming at Wisconsin?

Johnny and his twin brother, teammate Jordan, did. And so did Badgers coach Greg Gard, who is willingly loosening any restrictions on his go-to player.

"I don’t think systems win. Players within the system win," Johnny Davis said a few days after his performance against Purdue. "Coach Gard has done a really good job of letting our team play. He isn’t trying to control us too much. He’s letting us play with freedom. That gives me the opportunity to play my game. This is a faster pace than what Wisconsin has been used to."

What has stood out to Gard? The effort every single possession.

"For Johnny, everything starts with his competitiveness, his killer instinct and his will to win," Gard said. "That’s at the top of his motivating factors. But he also had a full offseason in [the] weight room, outside of a couple weeks with Team USA. That helped him add strength and explosiveness.

"The experience playing with USA Basketball also helped him greatly, maybe more mentally than physically. He was able to see that he’s among the best players in the country. Playing on the world stage can do wonders in helping you believe."

Davis said he could have been this guy a year ago, but that wasn’t his role. He was the glue guy. But he knew that wasn’t his position this season.

Having the ability to prepare in what is historically the most important summer for college basketball players (from freshmen to sophomore season) was a must. But a traditional 2020 summer didn’t exist for college players due to COVID-19. For Davis, making the USA Basketball team that won gold in the FIBA-19 tournament in Latvia was a game-changer.

He said he never would have imagined being in a position to make a team of a dozen of the best players in his peer group.

"It boosted my confidence to a whole ‘nother level," Davis said.

He reiterated that he could have done more a season ago, but that wasn’t his role.

"I just had to find my place to fit in," he said. "I was the glue guy, getting offensive rebounds, diving on the floor and guarding the opposing team’s best player. Now everyone is gone but Brad, and they need me to be that person. I think I’ve done a good job of taking on that role."

Jordan says he has seen that aspect of Johnny’s game every day.

"He knows his role, and he knew he could be that guy for us," said Jordan, who is a rotation player but will likely get his time to shine when Johnny exits after this season. "If we need buckets, he delivers."

Johnny Davis has scored at least 15 points in all 11 games the Badgers have played this season and is averaging 22.3 PPG. Wisconsin hasn't had a player average at least 20 since Michael Finley in 1995. The jump from seven PPG to 22 is the largest increase from any Big Ten player besides Davis' fellow sophomore (and fellow twin) Keegan Murray of Iowa, who went from seven PPG to 24.

The Badgers are 10-1 with Davis in the lineup. He missed the Providence home game due to a lower-body injury.

"It starts and ends with his assassin’s heart, so to speak," Gard said. "He wants to win at everything he does. That’s what drives him. We could see that back when he was in high school, in basketball and on the football field.

"In fact, he even drew a flag or two when he wasn’t happy with things on the field, and he has learned how to channel that cut-throat mentality. He’s the ultimate competitor, and when you step between the lines, that switch goes on. That’s part of his DNA."

Andy Katz is a longtime college basketball writer, analyst and host. He can be seen on FOX Sports and Big Ten Network platforms, as well as March Madness and NCAA.com, and he hosts the podcast "March Madness 365." Katz worked at ESPN for nearly two decades and, prior to that, in newspapers for nine years.