Jake Davis won state with Cathedral football

Illinois basketball’s Jake Davis previously won a state football championship at Lucas Oil Stadium as a tight end.
Davis leads the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, primarily taking 3-point shots and rarely turning the ball over.
His leadership was credited with helping turn the team’s season around after a mid-December loss.

INDIANAPOLIS — Jake Davis’ Illinois basketball teammates expressed mild surprise when told he already won a championship in Lucas Oil Stadium.

They were a bit more intrigued to learn their sharpshooting wing played the sport for which the building was originally intended. Then they were borderline shocked to learn what position Davis played for Cathedral’s 2020 state championship team.

“I just assumed he was the quarterback,” senior AJ Redd said, “just because he’s a shooter.”

Nope, the guy known around the Big Ten for his flowing, curly red locks and 3-point savvy played tight end.

“Ah, I bet he got smoked,” Tipton native Ben Humrichous said.

Maybe Davis’ fledgling football talents did not translate to his basketball career. Other aspects of his football personality, though, proved essential to the Fighting Illini’s first Final Four appearance in 21 years.

On a team loaded with talent – All-American guard Keaton Wagler, All-Big Ten guard Kylan Boswell, a handful of Eastern European imports – Davis’ fiery leadership and accountability checks mean as much as his nation-leading offensive efficiency.

Davis can also appreciate this journey to Indianapolis as more than a drive across I-74. He began his career at Mercer under former Purdue assistant Greg Gary. When the school made a coaching change, Davis entered the transfer portal. He found a destination both closer to home and capable of taking him to exciting new places.

“My dream is to play basketball and the highest level I can and be successful doing it,” Davis said, “and I think this, at the college level, is about as good as it gets.”

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Why Illinois’ Jake Davis is the nation’s most efficient offensive player

Those quarterback guesses make sense. No one is more reliable with the ball in their hands than Davis.

No one anywhere, it turns out – or at least in Division I. Per Ken Pomeroy’s analytics, Davis’ adjusted offensive efficiency of 146.8 leads the nation.

His season stat line serves as a monument to Indiana stereotypes – and modern basketball’s optimized approach. He’s attempted 14 2-point shots and 132 3-pointers, making 40.9% of the latter. His turnover rate of 4.7% ranks fourth nationally. (Only second on his own team, though, behind Humrichous’ nation-leading 4.0%.)

While starting 21 of 25 games and averaging nearly 20 minutes per game in the physical grinder of the Big Ten, Davis committed six turnovers. He committed his last one over a month ago. He’s never committed more than one in a game in an Illini uniform.

“He doesn’t keep the ball in his hands – he doesn’t let it stick,” said Wagler, who set a Mackey Arena scoring record with 46 points in an 88-82 win at Purdue on Jan. 24.

“He doesn’t care about scoring, any of that. When he gets an open shot, he’ll take it and he’ll probably knock it down. But when it’s not there, he’s going to move the ball. He’s going to screen, ghost screen, slip, all that, and try to mess up the defense.”

Davis slips in perfectly amid Illinois’ lineup mix of dynamic guards and versatile bigs. He did not set out to fill that niche. He started as a freshman at Mercer, too, and displayed a more comprehensive skill set.

He quickly recognized at Illinois what maximizing a role on a team this talented could mean.

“It was my goal to be as good as I can at what I can be good at,” Davis said. “That for me is playing defense, being a great shooter, being a great teammate, communicating – doing all the little things that can help my team win. That’s the role I tried to embody and get really good at, for sure.”

Jake Davis’ leadership sparked Illinois’ in-season turnaround

On Dec. 13, the Illini lost a home game to Nebraska – their third loss in seven games. The next practice was a physical one – with Davis setting the tone.

Illinois did not lose again until February – a 12-game winning streak which included road victories at NCAA teams Iowa, Purdue and Nebraska. Of the five losses suffered since – all to NCAA Tournament teams – four came in overtime.

“We knew we needed to have a great day, and I think that’s part of what caused such a turnaround in our season,” Humrichous said of that practice. “It starts with a guy like Jake Davis, who will unselfishly, after we had a rough game, come in and bring an energy that’s needed for our team to be successful.”

Davis won a basketball state championship in downtown Indy, too. He contributed nine points, seven rebounds, five assists – and no turnovers – to Cathedral’s Class 4A championship victory over Chesterton.

Asked what one place would be his must-visit this week, he picked his high school. Cathedral remains close to his heart – including in recent weeks as he watched the Fighting Irish’s latest state championship run under Jason Delaney.

Getting out and exploring Indy – especially as far out as his hometown of McCordsville – is not really possible with this week’s schedule. Illinois coach Brad Underwood said Davis, though, brought some of his foreign-born teammates back to central Indiana in the summer.

Underwood said Davis fit in with his European teammates because “you’ve probably got to be a little crazy.” While he may have been born a Hoosier, to a portion of the Illinois roster, he’s considered an “honorary Balkan.”

“Jake is our leader. Everybody likes Jake,” Underwood said. “Great teammate, and he’s also a little bit confrontational. He’s not afraid to get on those guys.

“But he’s probably, as much as anybody, helped in ways that maybe they needed help in terms of the American ways and basketball and me and our program become more comfortable. He’s very much ingrained with those guys.”

Davis reminded several of the reporters who cycled past his locker of his 1-0 record at Lucas Oil Stadium. He plans to remain undefeated through the weekend.

Nathan Baird is IndyStar’s Purdue insider. Sign up for IndyStar’s Boilermakers newsletter for the best Purdue coverage.