Latrell Davis first came to Viejas Arena to play against San Diego State last year as a freshman at San Jose State. He had 13 points, his season high for a road game.
“I low-key fell in love with the school,” Davis said. “I could imagine myself playing in this type of environment with this type of team. It became, yeah, I want to go to this school at some point in my life.”
And he will. Davis committed to SDSU on Tuesday as a junior transfer, giving the Aztecs the kind of sharpshooting guard needed by a team that ranked 217th in 3-point accuracy last season. He has two years of eligibility remaining and is believed to be the first SDSU player from England.
If coach Brian Dutcher and his staff needed any convincing, it came earlier this year in a pair of games against the Aztecs and their defense ranked 16th nationally. Davis had 23 points at Viejas Arena in a game the Spartans led by 21 before a furious Aztecs rally produced for an improbable 71-68 victory. He had 21 at San Jose State two weeks later.
“San Diego State is known for defense, and scoring against them is impressive,” said Davis, who shot a combined 10 of 18 behind the arc in the two games. “I was trying to make a name for myself, trying to show people what I can do. But I was even more, this is really the place I want to be. I love this place. I love the crowd, the fans, the environment.”
Davis becomes the second transfer in as many weeks from a fellow Mountain West school who had some of his best games against the Aztecs. They previously landed former Wyoming forward Jeremiah Oden, who nearly doubled his career average against SDSU.
That leaves Dutcher with just one scholarship still available for the 2025-26 season, assuming Miles Byrd and Magoon Gwath don’t turn pro and nobody else enters the portal before it closes next Tuesday. That scholarship is expected to be used on an unsigned high school senior instead of another veteran transfer.
Davis gives the Aztecs plug-and-play cover in case Byrd remains in the NBA Draft after the May 28 withdrawal deadline for players to retain college eligibility, or if another backcourt player unexpectedly jumps in the portal.
He also gives them something this roster was light on: a knock-down perimeter marksman who can create his own shot.
The only player on the current roster who shot over 36% from deep last season is the 7-foot Gwath at 37.8%, and that’s on 1.7 attempts per game. As a team, SDSU shot 33.3%.
As a sophomore, Davis averaged 11.1 points while shooting 38.3% on close to four attempts per game but really got cooking in the back half of the season. Over a 10-game stretch in January and February, he averaged 18.3 points and shot 44.9% behind the arc.
He had seven games of 20 or more points, including a career-high 30 against Fresno State. He started just nine of 35 games for the Spartans, and many thought he was more deserving of Mountain West sixth man of the year than Boise State’s Javan Buchanan (9.6 points, 31.9% on 3s).
“I’m proud of Latrell,” San Jose State senior wing Josh Uduje, also from England, said at the Mountain West tournament. “He took a big jump this year. And I expect him to have a great college career.”
Davis was born in Leeds, about 170 miles north of London, and spent his first 16 years there. He moved to First Baptist Academy in Naples, Fla., after the pandemic wiped out his sophomore season of high school and threatened another. He initially committed to a junior college before San Jose State coaches saw him average 14.7 points and lead Great Britain to a 6-1 record at the 2023 under-18 European Championships in Portugal.
Under coach Tim Miles, he played some point for the Spartans but mostly was deployed as a classic 2-guard with freedom to attack the basket or shoot 3s off the catch or the dribble.
“I like to dive on loose balls,” Davis said. “I like to play aggressively, and I feel like San Diego State plays aggressively in every game. They play offense off their defense. That’s what I like about them, and that’s where I can fit. I just like how physical they play and how everyone’s connected.
“They were down 21 against us at one point and they came back. They don’t give up. A lot of other teams would be, we’re done, we can’t come back now. They never stopped playing. They came together as a team in a moment of adversity. They didn’t break. That’s what I like.”
The connection to SDSU is Scott Stewart, his high school coach in Florida who grew up in Michigan and played basketball for Dutcher’s father, Jim.
“When I entered the transfer portal, I was hoping San Diego State reached out at some point,” said Davis, who visited campus Sunday and Monday. “People told me they might be interested after I played like that against them both times. I was hoping for it, and then it happened.
“After being there, the coaching staff is amazing. They genuinely seem invested in me and seem like they want the best for me. One thing I really like about them is they were super honest in the recruiting process, and I really valued that. Honestly, you’re not going to get that everywhere. They didn’t promise me anything. They kept it real the whole time.
“I could see myself in that place, for sure.”
Originally Published:
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
