Eric Musselman thankful fans were receptive to Devo Davis return

On Saturday, Arkansas guard Davonte “Devo” Davis made his return. Davis had not played since Jan. 24 against Ole Miss. Arkansas first announced Davis’ absence ahead of the team’s matchup against Kentucky, 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. When Davis checked into the game, Arkansas fans rained down their support. Davis wasn’t the only one who was grateful for the reaction.

“I’m very thankful for the fans that when he came in, that’s how they responded,” Musselman said after the game.

Davis’ minutes weren’t empty. The 6-foot-4 senior contributed four points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes to boost Arkansas to its third win in conference play this season. Musselman first announced Davis’ return this past Monday 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 122 games and made 80 starts. For his career, Davis has averaged 8.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field and 30% 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.”