The Wisconsin Badgers have been known as a well balanced program often led by a core of veteran players who have waited their turn to be the proverbial “man”.
This season we’ve seen a bit of a different rendition on an old classic. Instead we’ve seen an underclassmen become the focal point of the Badgers offense, and speed up the pace of a program that has long since preferred to play slow, and under control in order to mitigate mistakes.
Wisconsin’s super sophomore Johnny Davis is changing the way things are done in Madison, and he’s doing it in a way we haven’t seen under this regime.
We’ve seen the Badgers feature big men in this system, but it’s certainly been a rarity to see a guard so heavily involved in the offense from possession to possession.
Matter of fact, the La Crosse (Wisc.) native has had the highest USG% of any Wisconsin player not named Ethan Happ during the Greg Gard era.
For those unfamiliar with USG%, it’s an estimated percentage of the team’s plays in which a player was used while they were on the court.
So, for a guard who isn’t running the show to garner such a high number (33.3%), is almost unheard of at Wisconsin.
Here are the players with the highest USG% under coach Gard..
2015-16 Nigel Hayes: 26.9 USG%
2016-17: Ethan Happ 26.7 USG%
2017-18: Ethan Happ 34.9 USG%
2018-19: Ethan Happ 33.6 USG%
2019-20: Micah Potter 29.7 USG%
2020-21: Micah Potter 28.4 USG%
2021-22: Johnny Davis 33.3 USG%
The sophomore guard has sacrificed some efficiency numbers this season because so often the best shot the Badgers can get, is whichever one Davis is taking.
The poker-faced assassin currently leads the Badgers in scoring with 21.4 points per game (8th in NCAA), rebounds per game (8.3), assists (2.5), steals (1.3), and free throws made (97).
Should he continue at this level of play, Davis would become the first Badgers player to average 20+ points per game since Michael Finley in 1994-95.
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