Nate Oats explains why JD Davison is critical for Alabama's success

Freshman point guard JD Davison comes off the bench for Alabama, but he still plays a pivotal role in the team’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.”

Quinerly is averaging 31.3 minutes per night, posting 13.9 points as Alabama’s second-leading scorer. He is also averaging 3.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Davison has played in 25 games, 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.

Oats on Davison at the point for Alabama: ‘He’s a little bit different’

Davison has enjoyed a nice two-game stretch for Alabama. Against Ole Miss last Wednesday, he scored 18 points with eight assists, three rebounds, one block and one steal, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from three. Against Arkansas on Saturday, Davison played 30 minutes, scoring 11 points with four rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. He shot 4-for-9 from the field and 1-for-3 from three-point range.

“JD you can definitely play the two of them together because they both can make shots,” added Oats. “But JD was good. Attacked downhill, was aggressive. He’s a bigger guard. (Chris) Lykes couldn’t really handle his size. They took Lykes off and put Lykes on Keon Ellis for some matchup stuff. So teams know he’s bigger, he’s a little more physical. He can come downhill, he’s a little bit different.

“Maybe not as shifty as JQ, but he’s a big, strong, physical guard. He went two-for-two last game from three, he’s one-of-three tonight. So the last three games he’s three-for-five. He’s shooting the ball well enough for teams got to be honest him.”

Davison came to Alabama as a five-star recruit and 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 rated as the top point guard in the class as well.