The college basketball transfer portal has taken plenty of twists and turns. All of this has happened with the NCAA Tournament going on, which has brought some honest remarks from head coaches who have been playing and navigating the portal. Now, one of the top players in the portal is Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis.
The Owls star entered following Dusty May’s departure to become the Michigan head coach. He brings a ton of talent to the portal, even though he went viral for some questionable decisions at the end of the Round of 64 game against Northwestern, which the Owls ended up losing in overtime.
Still, there are a lot of teams that would want to have Davis on the roster, and the latest transfer portal intel has Michigan and Louisville fighting for his services, per Pete Nakos of On3.
”Michigan is the school to watch for FAU transfer Johnell Davis but Louisville isn’t going down without a fight, @PeteNakos reports. “With an influx of NIL capital, Pat Kelsey is ready to take some big swings to reconstruct the roster.”‘
Davis was the leading scorer for the Owls this season, averaging 18.2 PPG with 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He had three straight 18-point games and dropped 29 against North Texas at the beginning of March, so there is no doubt he is one of the best players in the portal. His teammate, Vladislav Goldin, also entered the portal.
Louisville got a huge boost with the addition of James Madison star Terrence Edwards Jr. in the portal as new head coach Pat Kelsey got his biggest commit yet. But, Louisville and Michigan fighting for Davis is an interesting twist after the way things went down with Dusty May.
The Michigan-Louisville rivalry is heating up with Johnell Davis rumors
Suddenly, there seems to be an intense rivalry between Michigan and Louisville on the basketball side of things. These teams are in different conferences, but the Dusty May drama surely had fans feeling some sort of way.
After Louisville fired Kenny Payne, May was immediately pegged as one of the favorites for the job. But, in a shocking turn of events, May decided to take the job at Michigan instead and replace Juwan Howard.
It was not the result Louisville fans were expecting, but landing Charleston’s Pat Kelsey isn’t a bad consolation prize, either.
But, the two programs trying to land Johnell Davis is certainly interesting. May was his coach at Florida Atlantic, and Davis was an instrumental piece to the stunning Final Four run in 2023. But, Davis would be a huge pickup for the Cardinals and could be a massive part of a rebuild for another blueblood college basketball program.
Former Louisville star Peyton Silva Jr. made a pitch to Davis on X on Thursday:
‘Ay @KOBNelly come on over to the Ville’
It remains to be seen where Johnell Davis ends up, but a recruiting battle between Michigan and Dusty May and Louisville and Pat Kelsey is certainly not the wrinkle fans were expecting this offseason.
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