2 weeks Ago By Bill Oram
When your window into a basketball star’s rise has been through what they’ve done against high school competition, you might be tempted to wonder if the hype is entirely justified. If what works against regular kids, so to speak, will carry over at higher levels. And then you watch that star carve up opponents who will soon play at LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee, and watch her morph into the best player on the court among the best players in the world and you realize, uh, yeah.
She’s got this. To understand the profound on-court impact of Jasmine Davidson — nicknamed and universally known as Jazzy, a moniker so utterly fitting for a virtuosic player that it seems too good to be true — listen only to her coach in Saturday’s Nike Hoop Summit showcase. “Just so smooth,” Dan Rolfes said, when asked about Davidson’s game.
“If I had to describe her, it would be smooth.” Funny, because that was the word I had in my notes, too. Rolfes, who coaches at Incarnate Word, continued: “I feel like she gets down the floor in about five steps.
She’s just so versatile. She’s long, can get to the rim, can shoot the 3. Just a dynamic player.
Good defender. She’s real well-rounded. She’s going to make a heckuva college player.
She’s a pro.” Well, not quite yet, Dan. But eventually.
“And super nice,” he said. “Maybe too nice. That’s one we’ve got to work on.
Got to be a little meaner sometimes.” Now, Rolfes was probably playing to the home crowd a bit on Saturday at Moda Center. But why not? Appearing only a few short miles from home, Davidson led Team USA to a 90-78 win over the World team by scoring a game-high 17 points to go with six rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals.
She did that despite shooting just 7 of 18 from the field. And maybe that was a bit of home cooking, with the USA team looking to give Davidson a moment in her hometown. But she deserved it.
Davidson has been regarded as a top-three recruit in this class throughout high school and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Oregon all four years. Despite losing the 6A championship game to Tualatin this spring, Davidson broke the state scoring record and follows in the footsteps of Cameron Brink, now of the Los Angeles Sparks, as an Oregon high school star positioned to go global. She committed to USC over offers from, well, everyone and will join coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s powerhouse program next season, where you can expect she will make an immediate impact.
Superstar Juju Watkins will be rehabbing from her horrid ACL injury. Two top guards just entered the transfer portal. There is a chance for Davidson to step into a starring role in Year 1 in L.
A. Year 2..
. Is it too early to get excited about the JuJu and Jazzy marketing potential? Saturday’s exhibition, which was played at Moda Center ahead of the boys’ game featuring future NBA lottery picks, as a bit of a farewell to the town that raised Davidson. “It’s definitely bittersweet,” she said, “but I’m super excited to get to college and grow and learn.
” Davidson secured the ball after the opening tip drove to the basket and spun, shot and missed. She grabbed her own rebound, dribbled out to the perimeter and dropped an assist to McDonald’s All-American Game MVP Sienna Betts for the game’s first points. And it felt like her fingerprints remained all over the rest of the game in much the the same way.
When Team USA clung to just a 71-68 lead to start the fourth quarter, Davidson took over, scoring six points and keying her team on both sides of the ball. She drove the lane and slipped an underhanded pass to Betts — who will join her sister, Lauren Betts, at UCLA next season — for a basket then intercepted a pass and went the distance for two points of her own. It was a showcase for the state of women’s basketball, but it felt more like a showcase for the best women’s basketball player in this state.
“It’s super special being able to play for USA in my home state,” Davidson said. “Just a super surreal experience so I’m really grateful for it.” -- Bill Oram is the sports columnist at The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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