Josh Davis Carves List Down

Josh Davis, a 6-5, 190 pound shooting guard from Elk Grove H.S. in Elk Grove, Calif., has pared his list down to five schools this fall.

Davis told the Insiders Report/Rivalshoops.com that he will pick from among UC-Santa Barbara, Texas El Paso, California, Oregon and Santa Clara. Of the five programs, only California and Santa Clara have not formally offered scholarships, Davis said.

The situation with California is especially unique. Ben Braun's Golden Bear program has made L.A. product Hassan Adams its top target this fall, and it's a fact that Davis is well aware of in the recruiting process.

"They want to give him the first option," Davis explained. "They don't want to sign any other wing players until he's either turned them down or accepted. Obviously it shows me where I stand in their process. I like Cal a lot, it's just a matter of the situation."

One of the top shooters on the West Coast, Davis took his first official visit this past weekend (Sept. 14-16) to USCB. He has also planned three other visits this fall -- Oregon (Sept. 28-30), UTEP (Oct. 5-7) and California (Oct. 12-13). He also may take his fifth and final visit to Santa Clara, but as of this week, he had yet to officially do so.

Davis has already entertained four coaching staffs during the in-home visit process, starting with UCSB (Sept. 9), Oregon (Sept. 10), UTEP (Sept. 16) and California (Sept. 17). He is slated to host Santa Clara on Sept. 19.

Does Josh have a leader halfway through September?

"It's kind of hard to say," he said. "Everyone is saying good things, so the campus visits will be very important -- getting to talk to the players, seeing how the coaches interact with them. It's a mixture of a lot of things, so I can't really say I have a favorite right now. I like the coaches who have come in the home so far."

Davis said that playing time, relationship with the coaches and education will be three of the biggest factors that go into his decision.

While many recruits have been frightened about flying on airplanes after last week's terrorist attacks in the United States, Davis said he plans on flying to several schools for his official visits over the next three to four weeks.

"I am pretty comfortable about it, but you can never say," Davis said. "When it's your time to go, it's your time to go. You can't do anything to avoid it. I don't fear flying on the airplanes. I might be a little nervous, but it's not a big fear."

Davis certainly put fear in opponents last season at Elk Grove, where he averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals per game. He had previously told us that he has a 3.0 GPA and has attained a qualifying SAT test score.

Davis attended session two of the Pump's West Coast All-Star Camp in California this past July, and competed with SSA Platinum at both the adidas Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas and the Slam N Jam Elite 8x2 Tournament in Berkeley, Calif.

He plans on making a fall decision, and IR will keep you posted on his recruitment in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!