Illinois’ Jake Davis returns home to Indianapolis for Final Four
Illinois guard Jake Davis returns to Indianapolis for a hometown moment as the Illini face UConn in the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Illinois vs. UConn Final Four matchup puts Davis back on familiar ground, adding a personal edge to one of the biggest games of his career.
INDIANAPOLIS – As a suburban kid who grew up on the northeast side of Indy, Jake Davis knows his way around Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Illini junior guard from McCordsville, Ind., grew up a Colts fan, like most of his friends, but he’s got some playing experience in this place by winning a state football championship as a sophomore tight end with Indianapolis Cathedral.
“I’m 1-0 here,’’ Davis said Thursday, after the Illini completed a workout in the football stadium converted into Indiana’s largest basketball cathedral.
“The court looks smaller than a football field out there. To practice out there like we just did and look over to where I used to sit (during Colts games), that’s awesome.’’
And he can’t wait for the starting lineups to be introduced.
“It will be a surreal moment,’’ he said, “sitting down there, seeing the big screen in this stadium, hearing my name. It’s something I’ll never forget.
“My dream is to play basketball at the highest level I can and be successful doing it. At the college level, this is about as good as it gets.’’
Reaching the Final Four is a big deal for all the Illini, but it’s something a little more special for Davis. His high school is about 15 or 20 minutes up Meridian, and Davis worked hard to get eight tickets to the national semifinal when Illinois (28-8) meets UConn (33-5) Saturday in a rematch of the East Region final two years ago. Davis could have used a handful more of those elusive tickets for family and friends here, but he fell short even as a popular guy on a team filled with talent and size with a European flair.
That wild red hair makes him appear flamboyant, but Davis found his niche by doing those time-honored things such as communicating, playing defense and hitting the open shot.
He’s a 40-percent 3-point shooter who rarely turns it over, and there’s the feeling Davis knows why he’s on the court and what he brings to the table. Davis isn’t very high in the batting order when it comes to taking the most shots.
“It was my goal to be as good as I can at what I can be good at,’’ he said. “That, for me, is playing defense, being a great shooter, being a great teammate, communicating. Doing the little things that can help my team win.’’
Davis takes that teammate thing to a new level off the court. He’s been called an honorary Balkan for showing his European teammates around campus and taking them home to Indy.
“He’s gone out of his way to make those guys feel at home,’’ Underwood said. “He brought them back home on summer weekends. They hang out. He’s not afraid to get on those guys. He’s helped as much as anybody helped in ways they needed help, in terms of American ways, basketball, me, our program and becoming comfortable. He’s very much engrained with those guys.
“Jake is our leader. Everybody likes Jake. He’s a great teammate.’’
Davis isn’t the only guy on a homecoming tour. Braylon Mullins, the UConn freshman who saved the Huskies by nailing the game-winner against Duke, played his prep ball at Greenfield-Central, just east of the city in Hancock County. Earlier in their playing days, they were at rival schools, when Davis was still at Mt. Vernon.
“I grew up knowing who he was,’’ Davis said. “I think he knew who I was. We played for the same AAU team and traveled together. It says something about Hancock County. I guess we produce a lot of talent out there.’’
Davis, who transferred from Mercer to Illinois in 2024, is bent on living the dream, hoisting that trophy Monday night in his hometown. It’s something Davis and teammate Ben Humrichous, another native Hoosier, were talking about last summer, when they saw the talent thrown together on this year’s roster and noticed the Final Four was set for Indy. OK, so it’s a thing guys say in the sweaty summer days when the season still felt so far away but the goals were already being set.
“When everybody got here, we realized we had a lot of potential,’’ Davis said. “It was realistic to get here. Me and Ben figured it out it was in Indianapolis. It was meant to be. We gotta play for our home state and make it happen.’’
The kid who loved the food at El Rodeo on 96th Street in Fishers and proud of his days playing for the Cathedral Irish for one weekend, where he wants to win another championship in that building.
