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Brad Davison’s 2017 season was one of the more incredible stories for Wisconsin basketball, and college basketball as a whole.
As a freshman from Maple Grove, Minn., Davison put together one of the most impressive seasons in UW history by starting in 29 games and averaging 12.1 points down the stretch for Wisconsin. His play led him to a 2018 All-Big Ten Freshman selection.
While Davison’s play alone should have been the story, his injury status often overshadowed his performance. After separating his left shoulder against Baylor early in the season, Davison returned to the court the very next day and battled through the entire campaign with the nagging injury. Davison reinjured the shoulder five separate times over the course of the season, yet you weren’t able to tell by his play on the court.
As the 2018 season nears tipoff, Davison is eager to get back on the court and channel the focus onto his game and off of his shoulder. During a preseason chat with reporters, Davison said the shoulder “feels really good” and he is “extremely happy” with the results from the operation. It’s clear that he won’t miss the brace and is excited to get back on the court without it.
Until we see him play, we’ll have to take his word. Much of the focus will be on the shoulder and how it holds up over the course of an entire year, but it seems as though Davison and the staff are optimistic that any worries will be put to rest early. From what we’ve seen in limited recent action, the shoulder looks just fine.
Cross-over, hesitation, finish@braddavi34 shoulder looks all right to me. pic.twitter.com/W7GhFciEpV
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) October 25, 2018
It will be interesting to see what Davison can do when fully healthy. After putting up an incredible season on essentially one arm, it would not surprise me if we are again pleasantly surprised at the talent Davison possesses. Playing collegiate basketball appears hard enough, but I have to imagine it is incredibly more difficult when battling through an injury of that caliber. If his play is the same, or even better, it could bring the Badgers back to the NCAA tournament as they look to start a new streak this fall.
We’ll be able to see Davison fully in action this Friday when the Badgers tip off the new season with an exhibition against UW-Oshkosh.