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Alabama point guard JD Davison earns SEC honor

Nikki Chavanelleby: Nikki Chavanelle02/14/22NikkiChavanelle
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James Gilbert/Getty Images

Freshman point guard JD Davison had a huge week for Alabama, earning the SEC’s freshman of the week award. He lifted the Crimson Tide over Ole Miss and Arkansas by averaging 14.5 points per game.

The Alabama native and former five-star recruit had 18 points and a game-high eight assists off the bench at Ole Miss. He hit on 7-of-8 shots from the field including two three-point shots. He followed that performance with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists against Arkansas.

Davison has played in 25 games this season, starting four as a freshman. On the year, he is playing 24.8 minutes per night, averaging 8.6 points as Alabama’s fourth-leading scorer. Davison also posts 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. His career-high so far is 20 points, which he scored versus Gonzaga in early December.

JD Davison was the 11th overall prospect in the 2021 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the top point guard in the class as well. Davison is Alabama’s most valuable basketball player, according to On3’s NIL valuation rankings.

The SEC also announced Auburn forward/center Walker Kessler and Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe as the co-Players of the Week.

Nate Oats explains why JD Davison is critical to Bama’s success

Following Alabama’s tight victory over Arkansas on Saturday, head coach Nate Oats went in-depth on why Davison is so valuable to the team at this point in the year.

Davison plays behind starting point guard Jahvon Quinerly, but the two also complement each other when on the court together. When Quinerly has an off game, as he did against Arkansas, having someone like Davison ready to go behind him is something that is great for Alabama.

“He’s huge,” Oats said when asked how critical Davison is to Alabama’s success. “I think (Jahvon) Quinerly has struggled at times this year. I think Quinerly, when he’s on and he’s mentally locked in and he’s playing with confidence, he’s maybe the best point guard in the country. But sometimes he’s not. Tonight was one of those nights. I thought he maybe got shook a little bit. he had a few too many turnovers. I didn’t think he was aggressive enough.”

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.