Ohio State and DePaul are two schools Southern Illinois guard Kennard Davis Jr. is considering.
Jake Diebler is trying to add one final player to his second Ohio State team this spring, but he’s found himself in a recruiting battle against several schools for the services of Southern Illinois guard Kennard Davis Jr.
One of those schools working hard to get a commitment from Davis is coached by an old friend, mentor, and boss of Diebler’s — DePaul — led by former Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann.
It certainly won’t be the last time that Diebler will find himself in a recruiting battle against Holtmann, who will likely use his familiarity with Ohio high school basketball in prep recruiting, too.
Both Diebler and Holtmann are hoping to add the 6-foot-6, 215-pound St. Louis-native who played his first two seasons at Southern Illinois before entering the transfer portal on March 13. After only averaging 4.2 points per game as a freshman, Davis played a pivotal role for the Salukis as a sophomore, leading his team in minutes per game (34.1) and assists per game (2.6).
He averaged 16.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 45.5% overall and 37.6% from three-point range last season in 32 games. He scored 20+ points nine different times last season, including a career-high 26 points against Murray State on February 19. Davis was named All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team at the conclusion of the season.
Diebler is looking for a guard or small forward to fill the final spot on his 2025-2026 roster, preferably one who can shoot it from the perimeter a bit. Davis, at 6-foot-6 and shooting nearly 38% from beyond the arc, fits the bill.
The former three-star recruit in the class of 2023 and four-time state champion in Missouri visited Ohio State April 12-13 and had a zoom call with the Buckeye coaching staff before that. However, Ohio State is not the only school Davis plans on visiting. Davis’ father told a news station in St. Louis that his son plans on visiting both Ole Miss and Holtmann’s DePaul program as well. He also said that Texas, Vanderbilt, USC, and Miami have reached out to Davis.
After taking big swings on a few high-upside, unestablished players last spring in the transfer portal, Diebler has changed course a bit this year. He’s added two experienced mid-major players in Christoph Tilly (Santa Clara) and Brandon Noel (Wright State), who between them averaged 31.5 points per game last season. He also added former Ohio Mr. Basketball winner Gabe Cupps, a guard who began his career at Indiana but played sparingly as a sophomore due to a meniscus injury.
Holtmann led DePaul to a bounce-back year this past season (at least as far as DePaul standards go) after the Blue Demons went 3-29 a year ago. The Blue Demons went 14-20 this season, winning four Big East games and one Big East Tournament game.
Thus far Holtmann has landed three transfer portal players — former Colorado guard RJ Smith, former Wofford forward Jeremy Lorenz, and former Tulane forward Kaleb Banks. His Blue Demons will return three of their top four scorers in year two.
Davis could go to DePaul, where he’d likely have a more prominent offensive role but isn’t as likely to win as many games or play in the NCAA Tournament. He could also choose Ohio State, where he would have a better opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament than at DePaul, but would probably be on the floor less often and may not find a starting role.
Per KSDK News in St. Louis, Davis has received NIL offers from multiple schools ranging from $300,000 to $1-million dollars. Davis described it as “life changing money.”
If Davis does indeed end up at Ohio State, it will likely be the final roster addition for the 2025-2026 Ohio State men’s basketball team.