Jake Davis Confirms His Return to Illinois for the 2024-25 Season

The implications here are many, but let's focus on two:1. Urbana-Champaign-area hairdressers and headband salespersons can sleep a little easier tonight.2. Illinois' unreliable perimeter shooting can now be described as little more reliable and its suddenly uncertain depth just got a bit deeper.

Davis, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound forward from McCordsville, Indiana, was a rock-solid reserve scorer and the team's best three-point shooter through much of his first season with the Illini (finishing at 34.4 percent from long range in 2024-25).

Although Davis averaged just 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds last season, there could be a larger opportunity available to him if he chooses to seize it. He lacks jump-out-of-the-gym athleticism, but if he works on his strength and quickness in the offseason, Davis could find an opening next season that puts his production somewhere in the neightborhood of his freshman-year numbers at Mercer: 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

In any case, Davis' return helps stabilize a roster and a program that, for the second offseason in a row, will undergo wholesale changes. His ability to space the floor and knock down the three from the small forward spot will continue to earn him minutes in coach Brad Underwood's offense. Whether Davis develops into an integral, 20-minutes-per-game contributor will hinge on whether he can elevate the rest of his game over the summer.

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