Wisconsin basketball returning player profile: Brad Davison

While the official start date of the 2020-2021 college basketball season is still up for discussion, we here at Bucky’s 5th Quarter are champing at the bit for hoops to start and have decided to get our returning player profile series going again. Over the next two weeks we will profile all of the returning players and then the week after that we will profile all of the incoming freshmen on the team.

The next player up for the defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers is senior guard Brad Davison.

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Position: guard

Height: 6-foot-4

Year: senior

Hometown: Maple Grove, Minn. (Maple Grove)

Recruiting info: class of 2017; 4-star point guard by 247 Composite (No. 108 nationally, No. 23 PG, No. 3 in Minnesota) committed to Wisconsin; offers from Stanford, Buffalo, Butler and Dayton. Named 2016 Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year.

2019-20 statistics: 30 games played (30 starts), 92-of-233 (47-of-131 from three), 296 points (9.9 ppg), 129 rebounds (4.3 rpg), 56 assists (1.9 apg), 23 steals, 27 turnovers

Career statistics: 97 games played (94 starts), 331-of-838 (159-of-449 from three), 1,052 points (10.8 ppg), 316 rebounds (3.3 rpg), 201 assists (2.1 apg), 99 steals, three blocks, 120 turnovers

Player overview: Like many others on this Wisconsin team, Davison left Maple Grove High School as the schools all-time leader in points (2,300), assists (899), steals (365), field goals (692), 3-pointers (168) and made free throws (748). Not only was Davison a stand-out on the hardwood, but also on the football field. Davison holds a number of school passing records and was responsible for 68 touchdowns (43 passing, 25 rushing) as the starting quarterback. He led the football team to the state tournament three times and finished with a 27-7 record.

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Learning about Davison’s past in high school, it is no surprise that Davison has had the career at Wisconsin that he has and it was easy to see Davison was something special as freshman, when he set school freshman records for free throw percentage (.818) abd three-point field goals made (60).

He also became just the fourth player in school history to average double-digits as a freshman, joining Ethan Happ (2016), Alando Tucker (2003) and Devin Harris (2002).

Davison has continually shown his ability to perform in clutch situations in cardinal and white.

Whether he is taking charges or knocking down game-winners, Davison has been a mainstay on this Wisconsin team for three seasons. Davison’s most impressive sequence came against No. 17 Maryland last season. With time running out and Wisconsin down by one, Davison stole the Maryland inbounds pass and then called a time out.

He then drilled the game winner.

While Davison is admired by the Badger-faithful for his tough defense and clutch performances on offenses, he has been a thorn in the side of opposing teams and one of the more hated players in B1G by opposing fan bases, especially by the team that comes from his home state. However, he has received praise from their coach.

Davison is one of 46 players in UW history to score 1,000 points, when he reached the milestone on Feb. 23 against Rutgers last season. Davison currently ranks No. 43 on the all-time scoring list and will undoubtedly continue to move up the ranks, during his senior season.

Role on 2020-21 team: Davison, who has been a three-year starter, should expect to do more of the same, during his senior season. His 97 career games and 93 starts make him the most experienced player on the team and that experience will have him firmly entrenched as one of the leaders of this team.