The college season is still young, but the incredible talent all across the country has already been on full display. Star freshman Jazzy Davidson, in particular, has taken the world of college basketball by storm. She joined a USC team that saw Kiki Iriafen enter the WNBA Draft and JuJu Watkins go down with an ACL tear.
Davidson wasted no time showcasing her potential with an exceptional game against a top ten team in NC State. With 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 5 blocks, Davidson led USC to a clutch 69-68 win over a team that entered the season with a much higher ranking.
Davidson is only scratching the surface, though. After her first two games in college, there is plenty of room for improvement, especially from three. An improved 3-point shot could quickly make USC’s new star freshman unstoppable.
Jazzy Davidson isn’t afraid to let it fly from three
Despite being a freshman, Davidson already leads the Trojans in field-goal and 3-point attempts, followed by Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones. Davidson already attempted 16 3-pointers—seven against Mexico State and nine against NC State. She went 0-7 in the first game and 3-9 in the second. Davidson hit her first three against NC State in the second quarter, sank another one late in the third quarter to tie the score 46-46, and made her third one early in the fourth to kick off USC’s comeback from a 50-61 deficit.
Davidson’s inefficiency from three may simply be a result of the early struggles that come with joining a new team, playing in a new system, and facing a different level of competition that most freshmen experience. When Davidson played in the U19 World Cup this summer, she went 12-23 from three, shooting 52.2% against some of the top competition in the world.
Despite her early struggles, Davidson hasn’t been afraid to shoot threes and her efficiency will surely improve soon enough. If she can unlock her 3-point shot, she will be virtually unstoppable, becoming a versatile and multi-level scoring threat as well as a defensive menace. The latter is what sets Davidson apart from many other top scorers in the college game. With her size and athleticism, she can effectively guard the opposition’s best perimeter player. A better shooting percentage from three would truly give Davidson the full package that makes for a college star.
In the next two weeks, Davidson will have opportunities to solidify her early college stardom. On November 15, USC will take on South Carolina, one of the top programs in the country. The Friday after, they will face Notre Dame and Hannah Hidalgo. USC will need Davidson at her best.