The program’s strangest saga rolls on.
Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
The increasingly bizarre Koron Davis saga appears to have saved its strangest chapter for last.
To recap:
Early this afternoon, Davis — who has been strangely away from the team for the last month despite head coach Kenny Payne saying repeatedly that he was still a part of the team and “not in trouble” — sent out a pair of tweets emphasizing his solid academic semester at U of L and stating that he would be in the crowd tonight at the Yum Center to support his “teammates.”
I just finished my first semester academically at Louisville. I’m extremely proud of myself. I challenged myself in the classroom and got it done. I’m enjoying the college experience being a true student-athlete. Where I come from a lot of people don’t get this opportunity. pic.twitter.com/pBPu4949GR
— Koron Davis (@KoronDavis) December 13, 2023
I want to say thank you to everyone at U of Louisville, Cards Nation and the city of Louisville for taking me in. Today I’ll be at YUM Center supporting our women’s team and my teammates at the doubleheader. #GoCards #ForTheVille
— Koron Davis (@KoronDavis) December 13, 2023
A little over an hour later, U of L SID Zach Greenwell put out an extremely brief statement revealing that Davis had informed the school that he intends to transfer.
“University of Louisville junior guard Koron Davis has informed the program that he intends to transfer. We support him and wish him well in the future.”
About an hour after that, Davis denied that he had gone to the university at all.
I didn’t express to anyone at U of Louisville that I wanted to transfer. I never asked to transfer. I enjoy being a Cardinal. The fact an official statement was released giving false information is disheartening and sad.
— Koron Davis (@KoronDavis) December 13, 2023
As I type this, Davis is at the Yum Center supporting the women’s basketball team and will presumably be sticking around to watch his .... teammates? ... former teammates ... classmates? ... take on Arkansas State at 8 p.m.
So here we are, in the midst of the dumbest story of an overwhelmingly dumb two (seven?) year stretch.
It also solidifies Koron Davis’ status as arguably the most fascinating player in the history of Louisville men’s basketball, and certainly makes him the most fascinating player in the history of Louisville men’s basketball to never actually appear in an official Louisville men’s basketball game.
Davis came out of nowhere last January when he committed to U of L. Not literally nowhere, but about as close as you can come.
The Los Angeles Southwest (JUCO) guard was not featured in the top 100 2023 JUCO player rankings from JUCOrecruiting.com, and didn’t have a recruiting profile page on any of the major sites.
This was ... odd.
The oddness continued.
Davis was the only player whose official quote from Kenny Payne on the day of his signing did not feature the word “character.” Perhaps an oversight, perhaps a sign of the strangeness to come.
Reports varied throughout the summer surrounding Davis’ ability and surrounding what position he might play for U of L. When Cardinal fans finally got an opportunity to see him in action in the Red-White Scrimmage and in the exhibition game against Simmons College, Davis looked, well, lost. He didn’t play in the exhibition loss to Kentucky Wesleyan and has didn’t appear in either of Louisville’s first two games of the regular season.
Early in the second week of the regular season, a rumor spread like wildfire through the U of L fan base that Davis had been involved in an altercation with Payne during a practice, and that security had feen forced to break it up. U of L has vehemently denied the rumor, as have both Payne and Davis, who both either directly or indirectly has acknowledged that they are aware of it.
A week after that, Davis was noticeably absent from the Cardinal bench and then did not make the trip to New York with the rest of the team. Payne has never gone into specifics about the situation, saying only that Davis is “still a part of the team” and “not in any trouble.”
During the Bellarmine game last week, Davis was spotted in the crowd.
Technically, (I think) Koron Davis is in the house tonight pic.twitter.com/Ts2EEmb5Wz
— State of Louisville (@thestateoflou) November 30, 2023
Payne was asked about this during his media availability last Friday, and said the following:
“I have nothing to say about Koron Davis. Koron Davis is not in trouble. I didn’t know he was at the game, but, if he was, that’s fine with me. He’s a part of this team right now.”
Okay.
So what comes next? Who the hell knows, but it’s probably more anticipated than what’s going to happen on the actual court Wednesday night.
UPDATE:
U of L has now issued the following statement:
“Prior to the program issuing a statement this afternoon, Louisville junior guard Koron Davis was informed that he had been dismissed from the men’s basketball team. Davis has expressed that he intends to continue his college basketball career and would pursue opportunities at another institution. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Well that clears it up.
He’s definitely not in trouble though.
