Mike
Davis - 6-7 forward - Coastal Alabama Community College – East Brewton, Alabama
From Murray State Athletics Media Relations...
Murray State men’s basketball coach Matt McMahon
announced the signing of a pair of forwards. Mike Davis is a 6-7 forward from
Coastal Alabama Community College and joins the Racers with 6-8 forward KJ
Williams out of Cleveland Central High School in Cleveland, Mississippi.
Davis will be a junior and Williams a freshman for the
Racers in the 2018-19 season.
"We are very excited to welcome Mike, KJ, and both of their
families to Murray State,” McMahon said. “We expect both talented forwards to
make an immediate impact in our front court."
Mike
Davis - 6-7 forward - Coastal Alabama Community College – East Brewton, Alabama
Tyshawn “Mike” Davis
joins the Racers after two seasons with Coastal Alabama Community College in
Monroeville.
"Mike is a versatile and highly skilled player,” McMahon
said. “His character, work ethic, and love of the game really stood out to our
coaching staff. He’s an effective scorer around the basket who can also stretch
the floor from 3-point range and make plays off the dribble. Mike fits our style
of play extremely well."
Davis played for Coach Will Brown at Coastal Alabama.
“Mike has a versatile game,” Brown said. “He can play with
his back to basket, put it on the floor and shoot the three. He is one of the
best kids I’ve coached and has a desire to learn and improve; he’s hungry to
win. He comes from a strong family background and his family exudes in him. He
developed a toughness here and that will help him as his career goes on. He was
a mainstay for us, the consummate captain that you want on your team.”
Davis had a big season for the Coastal Eagles in starting
all 32 games with a scoring average of 16.2 points per game to go with a rebound
average of 8.1. A multitalented shooter, he made 54 percent from the field
(175-of-322) and ranked 18th in the National Junior College Athletic Association
(NJCAA) in 3-point shooting at 48 percent (58-of-122). He was ranked in the
top-50 NJCAA rebounders and had 92 offensive rebounds. Davis posted eight games
with 20 or more points including his season-best of 35 points against Northwest
Florida State. His top rebound game was 14 twice against Atlanta Metro and
Enterprise State. He was named the Player of the Year in the Alabama Community
College Conference (ACCC) and to the Region-22 NJCAA All-Conference First Team.
Davis played his prep basketball at W.S. Neal High School
in Brewton, Alabama.
KJ
Williams - 6-8 forward - Cleveland Central High School - Cleveland, Mississippi
Kamarian "KJ" Williams joins the Racers from
Cleveland Central High School and will be a freshman for the Racers next season.
"KJ has great size and athleticism for his position,”
McMahon said. “We love his ability to rebound and protect the rim and
offensively, he's another forward who can shoot the ball from the perimeter.
With his tremendous upside, we look forward to getting him in our player
development program starting this summer."
Williams had a tremendous 2017-18 season for the CCHS
Wolves in scoring 21 points per game and grabbing 11 rebounds per game on a team
that was 23-9 and advanced to the second round of the Mississippi Class 5A State
Tournament. He had 16 double-doubles in 27 games in his senior season including
a 27 point/28 rebound effort against West Tallahatchie. He had a triple-double
against Indianola Gentry with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots. As a
junior in 2016-17, Williams averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds per game.
He was named Mississippi All-State Third Team and was
included in the Clarion Ledger’s Dandy Dozen as one of the top-12 high school
players in the Magnolia State along with Racer signee DaQuan Smith. Williams has
already played for his state in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game this
spring and the Bolivar Commercial named him to its All-Area Team, which is
chosen from nine different high schools. Williams was the newspaper’s Player of
the Year in 2017.
Williams played for Coach Bernard Berryhill.
“KJ a very respectful young man and humble,” said Berryhill.
“He has all the tools to play the game. He moves with a fluidity that someone
his size doesn’t usually have. Our school was new and we moved from a 3A
classification and up to 5A, and I thought KJ learned how to play against a
higher level of competition. I regret that I only had him one season because he
was a joy to coach.”
Williams was also a highly regarded quarterback. He led
Cleveland Central to a 12-1 record in 2017 and threw for more than 2,400 yards
with 21 touchdowns and he rushed for 300 yards. He also played baseball in his
high school career.
