Louisville Guard Koron Davis Dismissed From Program
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the stranger stories in the recent history of the Louisville men's basketball program has taken another interesting turn.
The university of Louisville announced Wednesday that guard Koron Davis, who joined the Cardinals this past offseason from the JUCO ranks, has been dismissed from the program.
“Prior to the program issuing a statement this afternoon, Louisville junior guard Koron Davis was informed that he had been dismissed from the men’s basketball team," the statement read. "Davis has expressed that he intends to continue his college basketball career and would pursue opportunities at another institution. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Prior to the above statement in question, UofL originally put out a statement earlier in the day saying that Davis had actually informed the Cardinals of his intent to transfer.
“University of Louisville junior guard Koron Davis has informed the program that he intends to transfer," the first statement read. "We support him and wish him well in the future.”
However, Davis refuted the statement in a post on Twitter, saying that it was "disheartening and sad."
"I didn’t express to anyone at U of Louisville that I wanted to transfer," Davis wrote. "I never asked to transfer. I enjoy being a Cardinal. The fact an official statement was released giving false information is disheartening and sad."
Louisville Report caught up with Davis, who was in attendance for the women's basketball program's matchup vs. Morehead State, and said he could not comment at this time.
"Not right now, I gotta wait," he said.
The 6-foot-6, 185-pound guard joined the Cardinals this past offseason from LA Southwest, but never played a single minute in any of Louisville's nine regular season games up to this point. The only action he ever saw was nine minutes in the exhibition against Simmons College, where he went 0-for-3 with one rebound, one assist and two turnovers.
On Nov 1, less than a week before the start of the regular season, numerous rumors began to swirl regarding an alleged physical altercation between Davis and head coach Kenny Payne in practice. The rumors were so loud that Louisville wound up releasing a statement to a handful of local media, denying the rumors.
“There was and has been no incident at basketball practice," SID Zach Greenwell told Louisville Report. "UofL had an open practice for athletic department staff with dozens in attendance, this is completely false.”
After not seeing action in Louisville's first two games of the regular season, Davis was noticeably absent from the Cardinals' bench during their win over Coppin State on Nov. 15. When asked about it after the game, Payne said that while it was his decision to keep Davis home, the guard was not in any trouble.
"Koron Davis was my decision not to have him come today," he said. "He’s not in any trouble.”
Not only did Davis not make the trip to the Empire Classic, he was not even present for the Cardinals' next two home games against New Mexico State on Nov. 26 or Bellarmine on Nov. 29. Or, so that was what Payne told reporters.
A photo that circulated on social media appeared to show Davis sitting in the stands of the KFC Yum! Center for the Cardinals' matchup with the Knights. When asked about the photo the following week, Payne stated that he did not know Davis was physically present for the game.
Davis was also absent from the bench in Louisville's last two games against Virginia Tech and DePaul before eventually entering the transfer portal Wednesday.
The cherry on top of this saga is that, just one hour before the news of Davis' imminent transfer came to light, he posted to Twitter saying that he had just finished his first semester at Louisville, accompanied by a photo of his transcript from the fall semester.
The photo showed that he was not only in good academic standing, he had a 3.4 GPA for the semester, adding doubt that his absence from the team was due to an academic reason.
"I just finished my first semester academically at Louisville," Davis posted. "I’m extremely proud of myself. I challenged myself in the classroom and got it done. I’m enjoying the college experience being a true student-athlete. Where I come from a lot of people don’t get this opportunity."
During his sophomore season at LA Southwest, Davis averaged 23.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, with his scoring mark ranking third in the California Community College Athletic Association. He also shot 48.1 percent from the field, 33.0 percent on three-point attempts and 81.4 percent at the free throw line.
(Photo of Koron Davis via University of Louisville Athletics)
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