Indiana Basketball: Did 247Sports get De’Ron Davis’ ranking right?

247Sports came out with their top power forwards for the 2019 season and Indiana basketball big man De’Ron Davis was included on the list.

One of the biggest talking points in the college basketball offseason is expectations for the following season, and one Indiana basketball player is included in that conversation.

De’Ron Davis was included in 247Sports Top Power Forwards for 2019, coming in at No. 16, but raises some questions about the list as a whole.

The list was made by Kevin Flaherty, and this is what he had to say regarding Davis.

"“Davis started just three games a year ago and saw his numbers dip from his sophomore season. But with Juwan Morgan and Romeo Langford gone, there are shots to be had in Bloomington, and the 6-foot-10, 255-pound Davis isn’t light on ability. He shot 60 percent from the floor last year, and while his rebounding could stand to tick up, he gives the Hoosiers an interior scoring option.”"

Overall, Davis is listed as the seventh ranked forward out of the Big Ten, showing you just how deep and talented and competitive the front court battles in the conference will be next season.

While I don’t necessarily disagree with Davis’ ranking on the list, there are a couple parts of Davis’ game that need to improve in order to either reach or exceed that ranking.

In his three seasons at Indiana, Davis has played in 79 games, starting just 22 of them – 15 during his sophomore season. Though he has been valuable when he’s out on the court, he just hasn’t been able to play major significant minutes throughout the course of the season since his freshman year.

Coming off of a torn achilles, Davis played in 30 games a season ago at 13.7 minutes per contest. While those are good numbers for someone coming off of a major injury, Flaherty’s point about Davis showing promise with his 60 percent shooting is all relative with Davis attempting just three shots a game. At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, you should be making that percent with such few attempts.

While I believe Davis will have a terrific senior season, I don’t think it’s going to be his scoring necessarily that will be what makes him impact the game.

Last season he showed his ability to be a playmaker on the block. With his size, if he is able to maintain that field goal percentage, there will be multiple double-teams coming his way and his ability to pass out of the double will be crucial in making a sometimes non-existent offense in 2018, come to life in 2019.

There are a few final thoughts I have and one circulates around if Davis is truly a “power forward”. Every two-big lineup he has been a part of, he plays more of the “center” role, and I’m not sure this list is 100 percent correct with their description of power forwards.

Also, a name like Silvio De Sousa (Kansas) is ranked No. 6 on the list after missing all of last year with a suspension due to the FBI investigation. Yes he is talented, but a career 8.8 minute per game player who has played in just 20 games doesn’t deserve to be the highly ranked after missing a full year.