Arkansas basketball report: Johnell Davis keeps third finalist secret

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Johnell Davis, who transferred from Florida Atlantic and signed with the Arkansas basketball team last spring after entering the portal, said he was contacted by too many programs to list and narrowed his choices to three.

Arkansas was clearly one of the last three teams Davis considered, and he said Michigan was another one.

The third? Davis keeps that to himself, but he gave a clue.

“It was too close to home,” Davis, a native of Gary, Indiana, said Tuesday at the SEC Media Days of his third pick. “So I (marked) that one.

“Where I come from, being close to home is a distraction. I just didn’t need all those distractions.”

Michigan was in the mix because Dusty May, the Wolverines’ new coach, was Davis’ coach at FAU.

But Davis’ close bond with May — who led Davis and the Owls to the 2023 Final Four — couldn’t trump new Arkansas coach John Calipari.

“I feel like (playing for) Cal speaks for itself,” Davis said. “When I got that call, it was either go to the NBA or go to Arkansas.”

Davis entered his name in the NBA Draft and withdrew it in late May to play for Calipari, who coached Kentucky for the past 15 seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

“Cal is a Hall of Fame coach and he wins everywhere he goes,” Davis said. “I’m excited to play for him.”

The 6-4 Davis, who said he played primarily power forward for FAU but is a shooting guard for Arkansas, averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season and was among the top-rated players in the transfer portal after starring for the Owls of the American Athletic Conference.

“I’m excited about the American’s jump to the SEC,” Davis said. “Just to play with more talent.”

Davis has been limited in recent practices due to a wrist injury, which he said he suffered during a fall.

“Everything feels good,” Davis said. ‘I’m just very careful.

“I felt good and just got healthy again. … I’m just trying to be careful.

“I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to get better.”

Junior forward Adou Thiero, who also represented Arkansas at the SEC Media Days, has also been limited in practice due to an undisclosed injury.

Thiero politely declined to talk about his specific injury.

Arkansas senior forward Jonas Aidoo, a transfer from Tennessee who was an All-SEC pick last season, also has been limited in practice due to an undisclosed injury.

Calipari has emphasized that he is keeping hold of the “screwed up” players now so that they are ready when the season starts.

“It’s early,” Calipari said last Sunday after public practice in Pine Bluff. “I’m not panicking.”

Calipari smiled.

“I have one foot on the panic button, but not two on the panic button,” he said. “So we’ll get healthy and we’ll see where we are.”

Gates excited about Boateng

Missouri’s top freshman is Annor Boateng, a 6-6 guard from Little Rock Central. He was ranked as the No. 26 player nationally by 247Sports, No. 33 by ESPN and No. 34 by Rivals.

“I’m excited about Annor Boateng, two-time Gatorade Player of the Year,” said Missouri coach Dennis Gates. “But what I look at is he has a great background.

“A young man who is a 4.0 student, a young man who played in the band, plays the saxophone. His talents off the field are enormous.”

Boateng averaged 18.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals as a senior at Central last season. He is Missouri’s highest-ranked freshman signee since Michael Porter Jr. in 2017.

“If you look at him now as a basketball player, he is a great young man, multi-talented, straight driver, strong and physical,” Gates said. “Also a boy who can make his own chance.

“His athleticism in this conference is very important. I’m looking for him to make an impact.”

Gates added that it can be difficult to predict how a freshman will play.

“Practice is one thing, a game is another,” Gates said. “We won’t know where Annor is until we get into games, but from what I see he’s one of the most talented guys I coached as a freshman, and I’m glad he chose Missouri.”

Mark on Texas

Tramon Mark, who averaged a team-high 16.2 points last season at Arkansas, will finish his college career at Texas.

Mark, a 6-5 fifth-year senior guard, transferred to Texas after playing one season at Arkansas. He played his first three seasons with Houston.

“Tramon brings a lot to the team, both on and off the field,” Texas senior forward Kadin Shedrick said. “First of all, he’s a very talented player on the court. Incredible shot maker. Defensively he’s excellent. He came from Houston, and they’re very big on defense there.

“And off the field he’s just a great guy, and that’s what our locker room is all about, just having a bunch of great guys.

“He just adds a lot to the team in both areas.”

Texas freshman guard Tre Johnson said he learned from Mark as a rookie in college.

“I’ve learned a lot lately,” Johnson said. “Just his pace and his knowledge and understanding of the game. I just picked his brain and the things he’s seen.

“Because he’s been playing for a while. He’s seen a lot of different defenses and different things thrown at him, and he’s dealt with it in different ways.

“So I feel like he can be someone who can give me insight into what to do, what not to do, what to look out for and things like that.”

Texas Coach Rodney Terry said he watched Mark play in Dickinson, Texas during high school.

“So I’ve seen him for a long, long time,” Terry said. “He is a youngster with tremendous size and athleticism.

“He can start making his own shot. He can create for his teammates. Very good basketball player with high IQ.

“He’s had the opportunity to compete and be coached by some really good coaches.”

Mark started on a Final Four team in Houston for Coach Kelvin Sampson in 2021 and played for Coach Eric Musselman at Arkansas last season. Musselman now works at Southern Cal and is a former NBA coach.

“So he’s very well coached,” Terry said. “He is a man we want to bring a lot of experience to, a man who plays on both sides of the pitch.

“He is a very good offensive player, but he is also a very good defensive player. You’re talking about a guy who we like to think will be a great two-way player for us.

Mark and Texas will play Arkansas twice this season.

“You didn’t really hear him say much at first,” Johnson said of Mark’s calm nature with his new teammates. “Now you hear him talking, laughing, joking, everything. It was great.”