Providence basketball lands top-150 prospect for 2024 season
Providence is off and running to begin its recruiting Class of 2024.
The Friars received a commitment late Saturday night from point guard Daquan Davis, who selected Providence ahead of fellow finalists Maryland, Notre Dame and Mississippi State.
Davis is a Baltimore native who will play his final prep season in the city’s rugged Catholic League at St. Frances Academy. He also competes on the Nike grassroots circuit with Team Takeover. Davis claimed other offers from the likes of Villanova, Butler, Kansas State, Penn State, Illinois, Texas A&M and VCU.
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“I would say it was pretty hard because of the relationships I built with the coaches,” Davis said via Instagram. “But at the end of the day, I knew which one was home.”
Davis is a consensus top-150 prospect who earned a four-star grade from both Verbal Commits and 247Sports. He’s among a host of prospects from the region who have received attention from Providence head coach Kim English and his staff over the past three months. English watched him during a live evaluation period in late April and Davis took an official visit with the Friars in early May.
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The Friars were in search of bolstering the backcourt with Alyn Breed’s status going forward uncertain and Jayden Pierre entering his sophomore year. Devin Carter, Garwey Dual, Justyn Fernandez and Richard Barron also could feature among the guard group in 2023-24 — only Carter has real experience playing major minutes at the college level. Davis will enter having played against elite foes both in the prep ranks and the EYBL.
Providence beat out an old rival in securing Davis. David Cox was the lead recruiter for the Terrapins as their associate head coach, his current position after eight years at the University of Rhode Island. Davis spent the 2022-23 prep season at St. John’s College High — a Washington, D.C., power and Cox’s alma mater — before announcing a transfer back to the Panthers for his final high school campaign.
“It’s been rough,” Davis said. “It’s been up and down. But, ultimately, it came through.”
Davis received one of the first scholarship offers extended by English in late March. The Friars shifted to a host of alternative targets when Ed Cooley left for Georgetown and English was hired away from George Mason. Providence’s hope was English, a Baltimore native, could tap into his Mid-Atlantic roots while out recruiting. He did so here.
“Coach Kim is a great guy,” Davis said. “Great staff. Great fans. I felt like it was home.”
The Friars also hold deep connections with a handful of other 2024 recruits. Maryland point guard Del Jones and Virginia power forward Garrett Sundra listed them as finalists after list cuts within the last few weeks. Power forward Patrick Ngongba II and small forward Isaiah Abraham, cousins from Virginia, have both taken official visits with Providence over the past two months.
Providence has some underlying commonalities when it comes to its latest targets. Sundra, Ngongba and Abraham all prep with Virginia private power Paul VI and count Davis as a teammate with Team Takeover. Overtime Elite big man Somto Cyril took an official visit in April and was recruited to the Atlanta-based prep program by new Friars assistant coach Tim Fuller. Jones hails from the same Largo hometown that produced former Providence point guard Jared Bynum.
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Daquan Davis, a Baltimore native, commits to Providence basketball
