Alabama Basketball Target JD Davison Hits Game-Winner, Wins 2A State Championship
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — University of Alabama basketball target JD Davison has ice water running through his veins.
With time winding down, the score tied at 61, the 2021 five-star point guard buried a step back three-pointer with 1.1 seconds on the clock left to clinch the AHSAA 2A state title for Calhoun High School over Barbour County inside Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Friday afternoon.
“The guy guarding me had four fouls so he thought I was going to drive,” Davison said. “I just took the shot and had a lot of confidence.”
Davison is rated as the top player in the Yellowhammer State for the class of 2021 by all major recruiting services and a top 25 prospect, nationally.
The Letohatchee, Ala. native finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, one block, and one assist. Winning the state title capped off a magical junior season for Davison in which he averaged 32.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and three blocks a game.
“We definitely wanted to hold for the last shot,” Tigers coach Ervin Starr said of his star player. “We want the ball in his hands. Some people say that he does not shoot the three very well, but in that instant he was 1-of-1 and that is all that matters.”
He is every bit as good as advertised, and then some.
As if he did not already impress his teammates enough all season, he continued to do so with his late-game heroics.
"We told him in the timeout that it was on him," Tigers guard Demareus Cheatham said from his perspective of Davison's game-winner. "It was all on him. We knew he was going to make something special happen."
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, Davison can do it all. He brings passion and energy on both ends of the floor, which has the eyes of college coaches all over the nation.
In attendance on Friday was Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats and assistant Antonie Pettway. The duo was also there for Davison’s semifinal game against Red Bay on Monday night, where he scored 18 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
Auburn assistant coach Wes Flanigan was a spectator for that one as well.
Currently, Davison holds offers from the Crimson Tide, Tigers, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, UNLV, Memphis, Troy, Xavier, Virginia Tech, St. Louis, and Iowa State, among others.
Davison’s play style will remind Crimson Tide fans of a younger Collin Sexton type. His first step is lightning quick and once he gets moving downhill toward the basket it is hard to stop him. He understands how to draw fouls in the lane and, for the most part, make the high IQ play to help his teammates.
His hometown Letohatchee is roughly over an hour and a half away from Birmingham so when Davison and the rest of the Tigers return — they will only have one thing on their minds.
“I think we should have a parade,” Davison said. “It is going to be a party.”
