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Florida Atlantic basketball’s Johnell Davis makes drastic decision after Dusty May exit

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Scotty White | Last updated 4/3/24

Last season, the Florida Atlantic basketball team went on a surprise run in the NCAA Tournament all the way to the Final Four. The Owls ended up falling just short of the national title game as they lost on a buzzer beater to San Diego State. Head coach Dusty May immediately became one of the hottest names in the coaching market, and after coming back for one more season, he has now departed for Michigan. With that, transfer portal exits have started to come, and the latest is star Johnell Davis.

“FAU basketball star guard Johnell Davis has entered the transfer portal, @247Sports has learned,” Matt Zenitz said in a tweet. “Averaged 18.2 points per game this season for FAU.”

When a head coach leaves a program, there are going to be transfer portal exits, and Florida Atlantic basketball is seeing that this offseason. May could’ve left the program after the Final Four run, but he came back for one more season, and the Owls made it back to the NCAA Tournament as a nine seed. There was no Final Four run, but Florida Atlantic fans will always cherish the Dusty May era.

Johnell Davis instantly becomes one of the best players in the transfer portal as he has been outstanding in his college career. The past two seasons specifically have been great for Davis. In 2022-23 when Florida Atlantic made the Final Four, Davis averaged 13.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.6 APG.

This past season, his numbers got even stronger. Davis averaged 18.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.9 APG. He has had a great career, and he is going to make another team very happy in the transfer portal.

When thinking about potential destinations for Davis, there is one school that everyone will be watching, and it’s Michigan. Davis’ head coach is now with the Wolverines, and it’s very common for players to follow their coach to a new program.

Dusty May is the new coach for Michigan basketball

Florida Atlantic Owls guard Johnell Davis (1) drives against Northwestern Wildcats forward Blake Preston (32) in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at the Barclays Center. © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

A big reason why Johnell Davis is in the transfer portal is because Dusty May is now the head coach of the Michigan basketball team. The Wolverines just finished up a historically poor season as they won just eight games, and Juwan Howard was fired after the conclusion of the season.

Juwan Howard got out to a very promising start in his career as he won the Big Ten, took Michigan to the Elite 8 and won AP Coach of the Year. However, things quickly went downhill, and the Wolverines did a good job of working quickly to snag one of the most popular names on the coaching market. May has already coached in Southeast Michigan at Eastern Michigan, and now he is going to Ann Arbor to be the head coach of the Wolverines.

Davis isn’t the only Florida Atlantic transfer that May and Michigan will have their eyes on. The portal will be huge for May in terms of rebuilding this team in year one, and there are some other Owls that have entered the transfer portal as well. Key big man Vladislav Goldin is also in the portal, as well as Nick Boyd and Giancarlo Rosado. Those are all names to pay attention to this offseason as potential newcomers at Michigan.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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