As the Wisconsin men’s basketball team begins its season, the one-time little brother at the point guard position has upgraded his role to that of big brother.
With the graduation of Mike Kelley after last season, Travon Davis is ready to step out of the shadows of the former point guard and lead the UW backcourt in its inaugural season under new coach Bo Ryan.
Davis, who has played in 69 games for Wisconsin behind Kelley, feels like after watching his predecessor on the court for his first three seasons, he is ready to lead the Badgers this season.
Despite the long wait for Davis, he holds no ill feelings and used his time as a backup to improve and help the team in any way that he could.
“I would be lying to you if I said [being the backup] wasn’t frustrating, but you get to a point where you have to turn a negative into a positive,” Davis said. “At the time we had a great team and some great older guys that earned their positions. Nothing was given to them, and I just wanted to do whatever I could to make the team win. It was a great experience.”
As a backup on a very experienced team in past years, Davis usually played a submissive role, looking to pass first. This style of play was extremely effective for Davis under Bennett and Soderberg, as Davis tallied a 2.63-to-1 turnover to assist ratio in Big Ten play last season.
However, this year Davis will be called upon to expand his role as a creator and as a scorer.
“I expect to get more easy transition baskets, and my jump shot has improved, so all my jumpers won’t be hitting the back of the rim and going over [the backboard],” Davis said.
The Wisconsin coaches hope Davis can bring more offensive productivity to the point-guard position this year than in years past, but he realizes that his friend, Mike Kelley, had a style of play that will not be forgotten either.
“He’s my boy, and it was a pleasure and a blessing watching him play,” Davis said. “You learn so much from a guy like that. He may tell you that he is not the greatest athlete, but he had tremendous athletic skills. We used to call him “The Mitt.” I mean I can’t even describe how quick that guy’s hands were.”
This year, when the team needs a tough defensive play, Davis hopes that he can be the guy to provide it as he attempts to continue the tenacious style of defense that Big Ten foes came to expect from Wisconsin during Kelley’s four years.
“There never has been a better defender to come through here [than Kelley], and I don’t think that there will ever be one,” Davis said. “If I can just take a little bit of that and bring it onto the court and be a defensive presence for my teammates, I think that would be great.”
Ryan’s up-tempo style of basketball figures to be the exact sort of system that the speedy 5-foot-10-inch point-guard from of Argo, Ill., would fit in perfectly.
But Davis has acknowledged the difficulties of going from playing for Bennett and Soderberg in one system to playing for another great coach in a contrasting system. However, at this point in the season, Davis says that he is really getting comfortable with Ryan’s system, which is an encouraging sign for the young Badgers.
“I wasn’t comfortable at first, but it is a challenge, and just like many other things in life, you need to be able to adjust,” Davis said. “The coaches have been constantly screaming at me to be more assertive, and I’m getting to the point now where I’m comfortable with the system.”
While Davis is expanding his comfort level with the new system and is happy to be out on his own this year as the No. 1 point guard for UW, he does miss his old backcourt mate and basketball mentor, Kelley.
“Mike has taught me so much over these last few years,” said a smiling Davis. “I miss Mike, I miss him greatly. We talk, but not really the way that I want to talk. I think he feels that he should just step back right now and let me get into my mode, but I’m definitely going to be in more contact with him once the season starts rolling, because I need him.”
Kelley serves as an older brother to Travon, but Travon also recognizes it is his responsibility as a senior to help along some of the younger guys, and in particular freshman guard Devin Harris.
Harris must grow up quickly, as he figures to play a lot of minutes for the Badgers as only a true freshman.
“He’s going to play a lot, and I’m just trying to let him know that Big Brother is going to be out there and have his back all the time,” Davis said. “But he has to become a man ? there are no boys in the Big Ten. He has the talent, but it will take a little bit of time. Hopefully he can mature quickly enough that he’ll be a constant threat on the basketball court for us.”
With the brotherhood of point guards past, present and future, Wisconsin’s point-guard position looks like it will remain in good hands for some time to come. One lesson this year’s point guard has learned is that of leadership.
Davis understands that it will be no easy task to head up such a young team, and that his leadership will be key.
“I just want to lead this team as a point guard,” Davis said. “We have a bunch of young guys, and I want to lead these guys in a direction where we can be successful.”
