The Paul Davis Theory

In case you haven't noticed, the regular season in college basketball is rather meaningless. Games don't have enough importance to get casual fans to pay attention. There's just no urgency. One of the drawbacks of college basketball is that there's too much turnover. The best players don't stay in school long enough for fans to familiarize themselves with them. This constant influx of new, top tier talent makes the sport a bit difficult to follow. That said, there is a phenomenon in college basketball that I don't think has been appropriately named.

As the casual basketball fans start to watch more games in the next few weeks they will notice players that they remember from last year and maybe even the year before that. Every once in a while, though, they will feel as if they remember a player from what seems like a decade ago. Some players, for whatever reason, just seem like they've been at the same school for 5-7 years. The poster child for this phenomenon, in my eyes anyway, is former Michigan State center Paul Davis.



Throughout the course of Davis' college career at Michigan State (2002-06) he played with the likes of Aloysious Anagonye (who played on the 2000 National Championship team with Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, etc.), Chris Hill, Kevin Torbert, Alan Anderson, Maurice Ager, Drew Neitzel, Shannon Brown, Travis Walton, and Goran Suton (who was the starting center on the 2009 team that lost in the finals to North Carolina). These names should remind most college basketball fans of a number of different Michigan State teams. Knowing that Davis played with all of them, to me, is mind blowing. Seemingly there's no explanation for this phenomenon, but I think that there are actually plenty of factors at play here.

- These players are usually good, but not great. They are regionally known, but largely an afterthought nationally.

- This sort of ties in with the first factor, but these players are usually both easily forgettable and easily memorable.

- The players that come to mind first are usually white, but white players only make up roughly half of the entire pool of players that qualify.

- These players usually go it alone. By that I mean that there isn't another notable player from their recruiting class that's still at the school. Due to this rule, players like Chris Wright and Austin Freeman don't qualify. Another example would be Andre Barrett, who seemed like he was at Seton Hall for 8 years, even though fellow classmate Eddie Griffin left early. Barrett isn't eligible because Marcus Toney-El was also a member of that recruiting class and a four year starter.

- These players are usually former starters that for some reason or another get relegated to the bench (ex- Greg Paulus).

- A number of these players have been granted another year of eligibility, or simply missed a significant amount of time, due to an injury.

-A select few qualify even after only 3 years in college. (ex- Casey Jacobsen)


Official definition

The Paul Davis Theory refers to a men's college basketball player that seems to have been playing at their given school for upwards of 5 seasons. They are good, but not great players who are both memorable and forgettable at the same time. Their perceived longer than normal stay in college is usually due to an extra year of eligibilty because of an injury after they have established themselves.


Players that have qualified for The Paul Davis Theory (I'm sure I left off dozens, if not hundreds, of others)

-Jeff Adrien, Connecticut-

-Rashad Anderson, Connecticut-

-Jonathan Brockman, Washington-

-Brian Butch, Wisconsin-

-Ed Cota, North Carolina-

-Paul Davis, Michigan State-

-Travis Diener, Marquette-

-Joey Dorsey, Memphis-

-Chris Duhon, Duke-

-Jason Gardner, Arizona-

-Ryan Gomes, Providence-

-A.J. Guyton, Indiana-

-Luke Harangody, Notre Dame-

-Casey Jacobsen, Stanford-

-Jason Kapono, UCLA-

-Brandon Knight, Pittsburgh-

-Sasha Kaun, Kansas-

-Raef LaFrentz, Kansas-

-Chris Lofton, Tennessee-

-Gerry McNamara, Syracuse-

-Steve Novak, Marquette-

-Greg Paulus, Duke-

-Terrence Oglesby, Clemson-

-Andy Rautins, Syracuse-

-Scottie Reynolds, Villanova-

-Ty Shine, Seton Hall-

-Craig Smith, Boston College-

-Darius Songaila, Wake Forest-

-Edgar Sosa, Louisville-

-Chris Thomas, Notre Dame-

-Jake Voskuhl, Connecticut-


My 2011 nominees for The Paul Davis Theory

-Joe Mazzulla, West Virgina point guard-



Mazzulla was instrumental in West Virginia's (10) over (2) upset of Duke in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Seven games into the following season (his junior year) he fractured the growth plate in his left shoulder and missed the remainder of the season, but was given a medical red shirt. Last season he came off the bench as Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Daryl "Truck" Bryant stole the Mountaineer headlines. This year he's back again and until about two weeks ago, I had no idea.

-Brady Morningstar, Kansas shooting guard-



Morningstar played as a freshman in 2006-07, but then redshirted in '07-'08 when Kansas won the national championship. He then started every game and was second on the team in minutes played in '08-'09. Last season, though, Morningstar was relegated to the bench. This year he's back in the starting lineup on most nights (even when Tyshawn Taylor and Josh Selby are both playing), but until about a month ago I had no clue that he was back for another go round.


An early nominee for 2012

-Robbie Hummel, Purdue forward-



Hummel led the Boilermakers in rebounding and was second on the team in scoring as a freshman in 2007-08. He was then named the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year heading into his sophomore year, but he had a disappointing year (only 3^rd on the team in scoring), but he was a team captain. As a junior he averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for a Purdue team that at one point in the year was ranked #3 in the nation. Unfortunately Hummel tore his ACL last February and missed the remainder of his junior campaign. Many thought that Hummel might forgo his senior year and enter his name into the NBA Draft, but he returned, rehabbed and was ready to go for his senior year, but tore the same ACL in an October practice. He has missed this entire year, but will be back for a 5^th year next season.