Loyola men's basketball lands Wisconsin scorer
Flavien Davis, a 6-foot-5 wing player from Wisconsin Lutheran High School in Milwaukee, has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Loyola University men's basketball team next fall, Ramblers head coach Jim Whitesell announced Wednesday.
Whitesell and his staff have formed a pipeline from the Dairy State and next season Davis will join four other Wisconsin natives on the Ramblers' roster.
"Flavien is a versatile player who can play both inside and outside as well as both forward spots," Whitesell said. "He is a good scorer and rebounder, fits our system very well and made a great impression on our players and staff when he visited Loyola. Flavien is a winner. He comes from a winning program, has won a state championship and has been very well coached by Ryan Walz, who continues to make Flavien a better player each and every day. We are excited to add a player of Flavien's caliber to our program."
Davis was a driving force in Wisconsin Lutheran's march to the Wisconsin Division 2 state championship last season as he averaged 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds for a Vikings squad that finished the year with a 24-2 overall record. Davis saved his best for the biggest game of the year, as he tallied 29 points, 15 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals and a pair of blocked shots to help Wisconsin Lutheran to a victory over Monroe in the state final. In the semifinals, he totaled 24 points and 7 rebounds.
Under Whitesell, Loyola has seen players from Wisconsin thrive in the program. J.R. Blount, who attended Whitefish Bay High School, graduated last spring as the ninth-leading scorer in Loyola history with 1,603 points, while Andy Polka (Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West), a current member of the Rambler program, needs only two more rebounds to become the 28th player in school history to corral 500 boards in his career. Tom Levin, also an Oshkosh West product, was part of Loyola teams that won a combined 40 games in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Loyola opens up the 2009-10 season when it travels to Kansas State Friday night.