JC Big Man James Davis Returns to Garden City

James Davis, a 7-foot-0 center who is considered by many to be the top JC big man in the country, has returned to Garden City (KS) CC after briefly transferring to Los Angeles Southwest (CA) CC. Davis averaged 11.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots per game as a freshman and will make his first official visit this weekend at Minnesota.

James Davis emerged as a high Division I prospect as a senior after not playing basketball as a junior. He drew looks from schools like Iowa, Purdue, Louisville and Minnesota, but was forced to attend a JC, due to grades. Davis helped lead Minneapolis North to Minnesota's Class AAAA state title along with former Garden City teammate Kevin Henderson. Henderson was dismissed from Garden City’s team this summer and Davis also decided to leave the program.

I caught up with Los Angeles Southwest (CA) CC head coach Mack Cleveland to discuss the latest on James Davis, who left the program after just five days.

“It was something that he was not sure of. Tuesday, his mom thought that he should finish what he started and I drove him to the airport to return to Garden City.”

“He definitely would have helped us, but he was their (Garden City’s) kid. He was a bonus to us.”

Cleveland said that James was looking forward to his visit at Minnesota.

“”He mentioned Minnesota being a factor, due to it being his hometown and having family there. He did not mention many schools to me. He was really, really interest in being recruited. He has not had a chance to really be recruited.”

Cleveland does not expect Davis to make a early recruiting decision.

Cleveland admits that he has not talked to Davis since he left his program.

“We have always talked, whether it was when he was at North or at Garden City.”

Davis is hearing from schools such as Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Purdue, Connecticut and Minnesota.

Davis helped lead the Polars to the Minnesota Class AAAA state championship as he averaged 14 points and 14 rebounds as a high school senior. He was named to the 11-man College Basketball News' Minnesota All-State team.

Garden City finished 23-9 this season, an improvement from a 15-16 mark the previous year under first-year head coach Ryan Swanson. They were defeated by Independence in the Kansas Jayhawk Conference playoffs.