NEW YORK – After becoming Ole Miss women’s basketball’s fifth first round WNBA Draft pick following being selected 11th overall to the New York Liberty, Marquesha Davis prepares for her rookie campaign as the WNBA season tips off on Tuesday.
Davis becomes the fifth Rebel to hit the court in WNBA action, and the second under McPhee-McCuin. Piecing together a dazzling senior season, Davis tallied 25 games in double-figure scoring and led Ole Miss with an average of 14.6 points per game. At the SEC Tournament, Davis exploded for a career-best 33 points against Florida and surpassed the 1,000 career-point mark to become the 36th player in school history to achieve the feat.
Joining one of the league’s most praised franchises, the Liberty are coming off an appearance in the 2023 WNBA Finals and three consecutive playoff appearances. Davis looks to provide assistance off the bench for a loaded group of all-stars including, Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot and Sabrina Ionescu.
The Liberty tip off the 2024 WNBA season on the road against the Washington Mystics tonight at 6:00 p.m. CT and can be streamed through the WNBA League Pass.
If I had to bet on a player in the 2024 WNBA Draft that we wind up looking back on in half a decade and saying “How did she fall out of the lottery?” about, New York Liberty rookie Marquesha Davis would be my pick.
Davis snuck under the radar this season as Ole Miss dealt with numerous injuries that forced them to play without a traditional point guard for almost the entire season. While that was a learning curve for the team, it allowed Davis to showcase what she can do with the ball in her hands, particularly during SEC play.
Davis has a wide and loping handle, but ties it together with phenomenal control of the ball, and she is also remarkably shifty as a slasher at her size on the wing.
She creates space in a way that few can. She has a devastating first step that makes her a consistent rim threat, where she does her best work as a scorer off the dribble. However, her ability to create sideways, backward, and in multiple planes of motion is what most tantalizes about her potential.
Davis has room to grow and improve as a more consistent jump shooter, but with her consistent ability to create meaningful amounts of space, it’s worth betting on her developing there. She has a knack for hitting some absolutely nasty tough shots, paired with wildly impressive hang time and a near-unblockable release point.
While she wasn’t a big-time 3-point shooter in college, and her mid-range numbers are a bit below average, this is a key area to assert context. Ole Miss was all about dribble-drive and attacking the basket, where they absolutely excelled. However, they were near the bottom of Division 1 as a team in 3-point attempts per game and 3-point percentage.
That’s key in understanding Marquesha’s spacing and the offense she was operating in. It was great for showcasing her driving and slashing ability, but could lead to some clunky possessions in the halfcourt and tough bailout shots when defenses stacked up in the paint.
The point is, with context, I find that some of the efficiency numbers undersell what she can do. So much of becoming a consistent shotmaker and shooter is refining footwork and mechanics. Davis has the touch and creation ability, and with continued work and reps, the shot will polish and become a real weapon in the coming years.
It’s worth remembering that every developmental story and journey is different. Some of these players didn’t hit their best heights until they got to a new opportunity, which is understandable and often expected in player development. Yet, the majority found and thrived in a smaller role in their first few seasons and blossomed once they got the opportunity.
Knowing how a person operates, works, and best develops is integral for every organization. There are a multitude of players with talent and potential in every class; can they land in the best situation for them? That’s more key than the number they get drafted at.
She’s long and active on defense, with quick hands and feet, and room to keep rounding out an already solid base defending on the ball (an area of need for the Liberty). She rebounds incredibly well for her position, particularly on the offense glass, thriving as a cutter and opportunistic scorer. Her ability to rip and run off the defensive glass and create easy offense in transition was amongst the very best in the country this past college season, and was immediately translatable in New York’s preseason.
Nothing is guaranteed in the hardest league to make in professional sports, but Davis embodies the traits of multiple players who fell to a similar position in past drafts. Marquesha Davis may not be a massive factor as a rookie, and she may not even make her biggest mark in the WNBA as a member of the Liberty: Just look back at the list of past players above and note that it took many of them multiple years and teams to find their footing.
But as she continues to expand out of a condensed role and develop, I’m confident Marquesha Davis will wind up as one of the most impactful players of this class when we look back in the future.