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See the full story · 1 sourcesIOWA CITY — Class of 2027 point guard Jaxson Davis is scheduled to visit Iowa men’s basketball in September.
Davis is a four-star prospect and ranked 41st nationally in the 2027 high school class, according to the 247Sports Composite. The two-time Gatorade Illinois Boys Basketball Player of the Year played his first three seasons of high school ball at Warren Township.
His father, Brian, describes Davis as a “throwback, old school” point guard.
“From scoring, getting others involved, coaching the floor, defends, gets a key rebound, you need a key assist, a key steal when you need,” Brian Davis said. “Basically, all of that culminates to winning basketball. So that’s why I see him as kind of a throwback point guard. A little bit different from the hybrid point guard that’s out there today, scoring all these points.”
The diversity in Davis’ game was reflected in his numbers playing for MeanStreets on the Nike EYBL circuit this year. He averaged 15.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 steals across 16 games.
But Davis can also put the ball in the hoop. He has surpassed the 2,000-point mark during his high school career. In December, he dropped 51 points in the championship game of the Big Dipper Holiday Tournament.
“If you watched the game, it wasn’t like he was shooting every time,” Brian Davis said. “It was in the flow of the game. They were throwing different defenses at Jaxson, different bodies at him, and it was just one of those games where you know you got it.”
More: How Iowa basketball became retention winners under Ben McCollum
Davis, who stands around 6 feet tall, is from the same area as another undersized, left-handed guard: Jalen Brunson. Brunson, who won two national championships at Villanova and a 2026 NBA title with the New York Knicks, played at Adlai Stevenson High School, which is about 15 miles away from Warren Township. Davis has crossed paths with Brunson and is a player whose game he emulates.
But Davis won’t be playing his final season at Warren Township. Instead, he is making the move to Monarch Academy, a new prep program in Kansas City.
“Jaxson’s a competitor,” Brian Davis said. “He always wants to improve his game every year. How is he going to get better? His goal is to ultimately play college basketball and play beyond college basketball professionally. The landscape of college basketball has changed so much that not only are college coaches recruiting the top high school players. If you’re a top 100 player, yeah, they’re recruiting you. But then there’s the portal, and everyone’s in the portal, getting these older players. His thought process is, I got to get better. I want to get to college, I want to play. I don’t want to sit. So, for me to stay here at Warren and dominate, because that’s what he’s been doing the last two years basically, am I getting better? Am I getting ready for college? Am I going to see the same athletes as at the college level now if I stay here? Or do I need to go find a place where I’m going to see this competition all the time as far as athleticism, the size, when I’m playing in the games? So, when I get to college, I see it, I know how to play against it, my game has evolved, so I’m better.
“So that’s his thought process of going to Monarch now, because he knows the competition will be better for him. It’s kind of getting him ready for college a year early. So, when he goes to college, he’s prepared off the court and on the court. Because, obviously, he’ll be in school, but he’ll have more time to train, to get his individual game better. And then obviously there’s traveling he'll do now with Monarch, living on his own. It’s like basically a precursor to college a year early."
Davis recently cut his list of schools to Iowa, Michigan State, Creighton, Ohio State, Marquette and Minnesota. Iowa assistant coach Connor Wheeler has been Davis’ main recruiter for the Hawkeyes. Brian Davis said Wheeler has “done a great job of talking to everybody in the family — myself, my wife, Jax. He keeps up.”
Iowa coach Ben McCollum has a track record of developing point guards, the latest of which was Bennett Stirtz, who went from Division II Northwest Missouri State to the 16th overall pick at the 2026 NBA Draft.
“Their coaching staff, McCollum, obviously, what he’s done with his point guards at Iowa or at Northwest Missouri State or when he was at Drake,” Brian Davis said of what has stood out about Iowa during the recruiting process. “The system that he runs, it’s ideal for a cerebral point guard like Jaxson, because the ball's in his hands to make plays and reads. He’s basically running the show for that coach. McCollum’s done a great job at all levels that he’s been at. So, we've been kind of studying him, his coaching staff and the system that they run at Iowa. We think that’s a pretty good fit for Jax.”
More: Four-star guard TJ Jamison lists Iowa basketball among top six schools
Iowa currently has one commitment in its 2027 recruiting class. Versatile 6-foot-10 Keller Daugherty is a four-star prospect and ranked 88th nationally in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite.
But the Hawkeyes are looking to add to the class, and Davis is someone they’ve targeted.
Brian Davis outlined the important factors in his son’s college decision.
"Style of play, schools that produce point guards to get to the next level and then he’s got to have a good relationship with the coaching staff and the head coach, as well," Brian Davis said. "Like I said, he’s going to be an extension of them, so he’s got to have that comfortability with the coaching staff on good or bad things, being able to express whatever’s going on — on the court and off the court. So, those go into play. And then academics, as well, because you’ve got to have life after basketball.”
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