Adding perimeter scoring has been the theme for Arkansas basketball in the NCAA transfer portal over the last couple of days.
The Razorbacks on Wednesday received a commitment from Temple shooting guard Khalif Battle.
On Thursday, they kept the momentum rolling with a pledge from 6-7 Cincinnati wing Jeremiah Davenport, who played four seasons with the Bearcats.
Davenport, who played for a pair of head coaches in John Brannen and Wes Miller while at Cincinnati, has averaged 9.7 points during his career on 39.2% shooting and 34.7% from three-point range. After putting up a career-best 13.4 points per game and starting all 32 games in 2021-22, he added 9.1 points on 33% from distance last season and came off the bench in 21 of 36 games.
For more insight on Davenport and what he can bring to Arkansas in 2023-24, I reached out to Scott Springer, who covers Cincinnati basketball for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Springer also covered the Cincinnati native in high school, when he was named city player of the year on a team that included a pair of NBA talents in forward Jaxson Hayes and guard Miles McBride.
“He drove the ball to the hole a little bit more then in a conservative offense,” Springer wrote in an email. “[At Cincinnati] it’s been more of an up-and-down offense. Jeremiah became a bit more one-dimensional with the three-point shot. It eventually became his deal.”
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Davenport knocked down 205 threes with the Bearcats, including 155 the last two seasons. He averaged 2.6 made threes in 2021-22 and 2 in 2022-23.
In his final two runs through American Athletic Conference play, Davenport made 2.6 threes per game on 37.2% beyond the arc and put up 12.2 points.
“When he’s hot, he can carry you to a win,” Springer wrote. “When he’s not, he can be aggravating. However, he tends to keep chucking, as most shooters do.”
The numbers for Davenport, who faced Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks in the title game at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City in 2021 and did not score, are intriguing.
A video posted to the College Basketball Scouting YouTube channel shows he took 26% of his field goal attempts beyond the arc on the left wing and hit them at a 43% clip. Another 24% of his shots came from the right wing, where he made 30%.
Catch-and-shoot chances appear to be the strength of his game. College Basketball Scouting shows he posted an effective field goal percentage of 54% (71st percentile) on such attempts in 2022-23.
But he can also get out and run — 1.11 points per possession (63rd percentile) — and properly full lanes in a broken floor, and hurt defenses as a scorer after setting a ball screen (1.25 PPP, 79th percentile), though he did not do so often.
“He’s a skilled and willing shooter who can stretch the floor and score in bunches,” Justin Williams of The Athletic wrote last month, “…and [can take] ill-advised shot attempts that spoil possessions and disrupt his team’s offensive flow.”
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Another aspect of Davenport’s game that likely drew Arkansas in was his ball security. The wing last season played 923 minutes – fourth most on the Bearcats last season – and had only 24 turnovers. KenPom data shows he posted a turnover rate of 8.8%, which ranked 42nd nationally.
Springer added that Davenport is “very competitive” and comes from a basketball family. Both parents played in college, as well as two older brothers and a sister.
“He plays with a lot of heart. … He’s been a solid rebounder when needed,” Springer wrote. “Very likable kid. He’s only been out of the area the one year at [Hargrave Military Academy], so this will be something different for him.”
Springer noted that a weakness for Davenport is defense as he recorded two or more steals in six games last season. Williams wrote in March that he is “prone to defensive lapses that can stymie a game plan,” but showed at times to be more dedicated to rebounding and moving the basketball.
Late in the season, Miller spoke highly of Davenport as a player.
“God, I love Jeremiah Davenport. I love them all, but I love him,” Miller said, according to The Athletic. “When he takes the floor, he just wants Cincinnati to win basketball games.
“If they were all like that every day, coaching is pretty easy. And he’s fun to coach.”
Davenport is the fourth transfer to commit to Arkansas this spring, joining Battle, Tramon Mark (Houston) and Keyon Menifield (Washington).