Chris Solari

Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING – Tom Izzo knew he wouldn’t have Deyonta Davis for long. Michigan State’s coach got him for even less time than he’d expected a year ago.

Freshman Davis announced Tuesday morning through the school he will enter the NBA Draft and sign with an agent, which will forfeit his final three years of college eligibility.

“Is he better because he came for a year of school? Definitely. Would a second year have helped him? No question,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said of Davis on WQTX 92.1-FM in Lansing. “We didn’t think we might have him for more than two years when it all started. So it wasn’t like we were thinking of this as a four-year deal, either. But he caused us no trouble, he gave us a lot of joys, helped set a couple records.

“And now we gotta do everything we can do to help him do what I say every day that I got to do – live a dream.”

Davis, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward from Muskegon, averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in his lone season with the Spartans, helping them go 29-6 and a Big Ten Tournament championship. He set the school freshman record with 64 blocked shots, second-most in a single season in program history.

Spartan Speak: Josh Jackson, Davis & satellite camps

The NBA Draft is June 23 in Brooklyn, New York.

“The information that came back made me decide to enter the draft,” Davis said in a release from MSU. “It was a tough decision, but after talking to my family and coaches, I felt it was the right decision and one I’m fully committed to. …

“This has been a great year for me at Michigan State – including a memorable trip to Italy, being a part of the best start in school history and winning the Big Ten Tournament. I will always be a Spartan and look forward to coming back to campus like so many other pros do now.”

It’s a significant dent to MSU’s roster a day after highly touted recruit Josh Jackson chose Kansas over the Spartans and Arizona.

Davis becomes the seventh player who will be gone from the MSU’s roster next season, including departing seniors guards Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes and big men Matt Costello and Colby Wollenman. Izzo’s team also is losing two other forwards, Javon Bess and Marvin Clark Jr., to transfer.

“Having the opportunity to meet Deyonta when he arrived and seeing him today, he has grown over the past year – not only as a basketball player, but as an individual,” MSU athletic director Mark Hollis said on his weekly radio show on WVFN 730-AM in Lansing. “He’s still yet a very young individual in so many aspects. I think those decisions have to come down to the individual. I can’t even having to make that choice or that decision at that age. But there’s a lot of people talking to him, and there’s a lot of people giving him advice.”

Couch: Minus Josh Jackson, MSU's recruiting class Tom Izzo's best

The loss of Davis and the other will open even more minutes for MSU’s four 2016 signees, all of whom are ranked in ESPN’s top 40: Swingman Miles Bridges (ranked No. 6 overall), shooting guard Josh Langford (No. 14) from Alabama, point guard Cassius Winston (No. 30) and forward Nick Ward (No. 39) from Ohio. Both Bridges and Langford were McDonald’s All-Americans.

“We didn’t know anything about Deyonta leaving, but he made the best decision for him,” said Winston, who will take part in the Jordan Brand Classic with Bridges on Friday at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. “That’s a big opportunity, so he took advantage of it. We still have a really good class with me, Miles, Josh and Nick. We’re gonna come in, we’re gonna make an impact, and we’re gonna win basketball games.”

With two open scholarships, Izzo said MSU could add “one more player.”

“I guess it could be a fifth-year transfer, but I’m not gonna go out and try to steal anybody,” Izzo said. “It could be a regular transfer that sits out, it could be a junior college kid, or we could hold onto the scholarship for next year.”

ESPN’s Chad Ford ranks Davis as the No. 11 prospect in the 2016 draft and projects him as a lottery pick. DraftExpress.com has Davis going to Phoenix with the No. 13 pick, while USA Today has him going 20th to the Indiana Pacers.

Ford called Davis a “long, athletic big man” who is an “excellent rebounder/shot-blocker” with “range on his jumper out to 17 feet.” However, he said Davis must add strength and doesn’t possess “offensive polish in the paint.”

“It was treat to coach this kid. He was a good kid,” Izzo said. “He learned to work harder – he doesn’t work hard enough, but he’s learning to work harder. He made some progress.”

Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!

McCabe: What if Josh Jackson had stayed in state?