Devo Davis shares feelings on being back with Arkansas

Davonte “Devo” Davis has been back with Arkansas for five games since taking a three-game leave of absence between Jan. 24 and Feb. 10. Davis couldn’t be happier. After Arkansas’ 88-73 win over Missouri on Saturday, Davis pulled back the curtain on how his return has felt.

“It feels good being back,” Davis said. “I’m glad I’m able to be around those guys again and they welcomed me back with open arms. I’m glad I’m able to come back and play basketball, something that I love to do. These guys know I love to do it and so I’m glad I’m able to do it with these guys, and we were able to pick up this big win tonight.”

In the win, Davis stuffed the stat sheet, amassing eight points, nine rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal. Since Davis has returned, the team has gone 3-2 in conference play. For reference, the Razorbacks were 1-5 in SEC play when Davis initially left the team.

Arkansas first announced Davis’ absence ahead of the team’s matchup against Kentucky on Jan. 27, stating Davis had “stepped away from the program.” After multiple meetings with head coach Eric Musselman, Davis triumphantly returned in Arkansas 78-75 win over Georgia.

Musselman first discussed Davis’ return on his radio show.

“You just sit down and talk to the player and you have a meeting and you discuss how he’s gonna come back, how that process is gonna work,” Musselman said. “What day he’s going to come back to practice. What physically after being away for a little bit are you going to do, how much, how little. That was basically what the conversation was.

“He has been working hard. He has had a great week of practice,” Musselman said. “I think, from a conditioning standpoint? And we talked yesterday about his conditioning. He feels like he’s back to where he was from a conditioning standpoint.”

Eric Musselman is rooting for Devo Davis

In four seasons at Arkansas, Davis has appeared in 126 games and made 84 starts. For his career, Davis has averaged 8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field and 29.7% from beyond the arc.

Davis is only averaging 6.2 points per game this season, a career-low. Despite Davis’ slow start this season, Arkansas will need him down the stretch. Davis played a significant part on all three of Arkansas’ teams that made the Sweet 16 in the past three years.

Musselman hopes Davis can help lead his team into March once again.

“You look at this success over the last three years and he’s been a big part of it,” Musselman said. “We’re finding out that it’s not easy, one, to make an NCAA Tournament. It’s not easy to make a Sweet 16 — three of them. It’s not easy to make back-to-back Elite Eights. He’s been a part of that, so hopefully everybody recognizes what he has done for the program.”