Villanova has become Guard U under head coach Jay Wright, producing a string of talented players in Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns.
Three of those players — Fisher, Stokes and Cheek — played at New Jersey high schools.
Now, as Wright plans for the future, he has his gaze focused on yet another talented Garden State guard.
Myles Davis, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound combo guard from Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep, is the No. 9 shooting guard in the Class of 2011.
Davis averaged 20.1 points a game and was named First-Team All-State by The Star Ledger. He dropped 33 points in an upset of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, scored 29 in the Group A final against Camden Catholic and had 23 against St. Anthony.
According to St. Peter’s coach Mike Kelly, Villanova is in a strong position with Davis at this point.
“Villanova has made a commitment to Myles Davis,” Kelly said. “They’re going to offer him in person. Jay Wright said they’re going to offer him a scholarship.”
There is a dead period until May 28, but Kelly said Wright could come to see Davis after the dead period in late May or early June.
“I talked to Coach Wright,” Davis said. “He seems really interested in me. I’m interested in the program, too. Coach Wright produces guards and it’s a guard school. If you want to get better as a guard that’s definitely a school to look at.”
Still, Davis is keeping his options open.
His complete list includes Georgetown, UConn, Pitt, Virginia, George Mason, St. Joe’s and Villanova. Among those, UConn, Georgetown and Villanova have yet to formally offer.
“There isn’t any specific leader,” Davis said. “There isn’t any order or anything.”
Aside from Villanova, Davis is also considering Big East rivals UConn and Georgetown.
“UConn is another guard-oriented school and I know they know what they are doing,” Davis said. “I went there for an unofficial. I worked out with the guys. I worked out with Kemba [Walker] and Shabazz Napier. C.J. Leslie was down there. I got to run with the guys.
“They just had a bad year last year.”
Davis also visited Georgetown last season and enjoyed it.
“It was really good,” he said. “I talked to Coach [John] Thompson [III]. I got to meet some of the guys. That was really good. Georgetown is definitely one of the schools that I’ve always looked at. It was always interesting to me when I was young.”
Davis will run this summer with the Playaz Gold team that also features Myles Mack, Derrick Randall, Vaughn Gray and Desmond Hubert.
He plans to narrow his list later in the summer.
“By the end of the summer I’ll probably narrow it down to my top five,” he said. “I’ll probably take some unofficials. I just don’t know when yet.”
If you ask Kelly, Villanova would be a good landing spot for his star guard.
“What a great spot that would be,” Kelly said. “It’s a great spot for him. What I told Coach Wright is Myles is not a point guard. He’s not a wing. He’s really a slot guy, a guy that can slot toward the wing or toward the point.
“He’s more of a slot guard and I think that fits Villanova pretty well.”
(Photo courtesy Rivals.com)
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