Former SMU guard Kendric Davis announces transfer destination

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh04/22/22

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Former SMU Mustangs guard Kendric Davis announced his transfer destination on Friday, choosing to play for head coach Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers. This will be the third program Davis has played for throughout his college career, originally signing with the TCU Horned Frogs out of high school.

After receiving offers from across the entire country, Davis cut down his list to five schools on Wednesday. The Houston CougarsKansas Jayhawks, TCU, and Texas Tech Red Raiders were the other four in the running for Davis. Texas and Gonzaga had also previously been in the running. In the end, Memphis ended up winning out, with one of the top transfers in the country staying in the American Athletic Conference.

Memphis finished third in the AAC last season, making the NCAA Tournament as a nine-seed. Beating the Boise State Broncos in the Round of 64, the Tigers fell to Gonzaga in the next round. Adding somebody such as Davis will help Hardaway position themselves better to make a deep tournament run.

Davis is the No. 63 overall player to enter during the cycle according to the On3 transfer portal rankings. From the point guard position, he ranks at No. 11 and was one of the best available.

Davis played and started in 32 games for SMU last season, leading the AAC in scoring at 19.4 points per game. He additionally finished third in the conference with 4.4 assists per game. Davis also went on to win the AAC Player of the Year for his performances.

The Mustangs were not able to make the NCAA Tournament after a late push in conference play. Davis put a bow to his SMU career in the NIT, dropping 30 points against the Washington State Cougars. Now, he will be looking to bring his elite scoring to another big-time program.

Coming out of high school, Davis was a three-star prospect according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. Hailing from Houston, TX, the guard was a top 10 prospect within the state.

After it was originally reported that Davis would be trying the professional waters by testing the NBA Draft, that no longer seems to be the case. Davis will now be heading to the state of Tennessee to play for Hardaway and look to bring the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season.