Money Shot: DJ Davis Provides Huskies with Instant Offense

The guard led the nation in free-throw shooting with a 95 percentage rate.

DJ Davis is considered the UW's top shooter on Danny Sprinkle's first team. / Dan Raley

Mark Walberg starred in a 2007 major motion picture called "The Shooter," which was about a guy with elite marksmanship with a high-powered rifle in his hands. DJ Davis should have had a cameo in it.

Davis has his own range, accuracy, consistency. Plus, he's lethal.

The 6-foot-1 shooting guard from Moreno, California, by way of the UC Irvine and Butler basketball teams is the University of Washington's imported outside offensive threat, a player meant to give the Huskies instant points and supplement all of that bulk inside in Great Osobor, Franck Kepnang and KC Ibekwe.

Davis is as fearsome from 15 feet as he is from 30, too, after leading the nation in free-throw shooting last season with a 95 percent age rate.

He missed just five out of 100 foul shots all last season, only one of 58 in Big East play.

Yet putting the ball in the basket from just about anywhere is his calling card. He connects on shots from 43 percent from the floor and 35.1 from 3-point range.

"For as long as a I can remember, I've always been able to shoot the ball -- that was my first skill," Davis said. "It took a lot more work for me to develop a handle. When I was younger, I was more scared to dribble. Playing AAU growing up, I was more catch and shoot. My parents told me I came out of the womb flicking my wrist."

Davis, who was a first-team All-Big West selection for Cal-Irvine before spending a productive year at Butler, was drawn to the UW because it was closer to home and he liked what new Husky coach Danny Sprinkle was telling him.

"I really love the staff; they showed a belief in me," he said. "I've got a role here that i'm ready to buy into. I like the message we've pushed since I got here -- 'I can't be all I can be unless you are all you can be.' It's a just message we've spread through the team, meaning we need everybody. It's a powerful message to me."

As for making nearly every free throw he launches, Davis says he has a routine he follows and simply takes his time.

"There's not a more open shot you can get than a free throw," he explained. "Me being a shooter and not having a high-percentage free-throw shooting rate I feel is embarrassing."

Hands down, other Huskies say Davis is the best shooter on the team. He says he takes great pride in being the guy that his coach knows is going to want the ball at the end of the game and be able to knock down the shot. His role is to make 3s.

He says all of the new UW guards have their own strengths and he tries to share with them any helpful tips he might have on shooting footwork and form.

Butler guard DJ Davis (4), now with the UW, shoots over Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner (11). / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

"I'm obviously going to be a floor spacer," he said. "I think because I shoot so well, my playmaking gets overlooked. I just pride myself in playing good basketball and making the right read, whether that's shooting an open 3 or pumping and putting the ball on the floor or making the extra pass. I just want to play winning basketball."

While the movie The Shooter might have pre-dated him, Davis knows all about "Hoosiers." At Butler, he played his home games in Hinkle Fieldhouse, which was used to shoot the final scenes for that glorious Gene Hackman film and is considered one of the college game's most iconic basketball facilities.

And, of course, his shots went in with great frequency there, too.

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