Johnell Davis is a 6’4” 185-pound senior from Gary 21st Century high school in Gary Indiana.  This young man has started every varsity game since his freshman year and those in the area knew this was coming.  He and the program have steadily become one of the best in the state for the past 4 years plotting along with success…they have arrived.

Let’s take a look at the progression of Mr. Davis each season shall we:  Freshman year 12ppg 4.6rpg 2.6spg, Sophomore year 15ppg 6.6rpg 2.9spg, Junior year 25ppg 10rpg 3.4spg and in his senior year has exploded 32ppg 10rpg and 4.9spg.  This scoring average puts him at 2nd in the entire state just behind Luke Brown.  He also leads the state in steals-per-game and is 18th in rebounding.  Many may remember former Gary 21st Century standout Eugene German who led the state in scoring both his junior and senior year and was named the MVP of the Indiana All-Star game vs  Kentucky in Indianapolis.  Eugene led the program in career scoring at 21st and just became the all-time leading scorer for Northern Illinois as well.  Johnell has just blown by the career scoring mark set by German who had 2,020 points while Davis now sits at 2,152 points.  This senior season alone Johnell Davis has put-up a remarkable 709 points and still has the IHSAA Tournament remaining.

Gary 21st Century has obviously enjoyed some great talent and this season are ranked #2 in the 1A class in Indiana with an overall record of 20-3.  While some may knock them for only being a 1A school (due to enrollment figures) this hasn’t stopped them from playing and beating many larger schools this season including 4A Valparaiso, Perry Meridian (Davis 34pts), Lowell, East Chicago Central (30pts), Gary West (30pts) Indianapolis Cathedral (36pts) 3A schools: Griffith (30pts), Lighthouse Academy (42pts) and River Forest.  21st Century is a charter school that was established in 2005 and are hoping to capture the school’s first-ever state title in basketball.

Johnell on breaking German record, “Is great to break German record because I always look up to him and I said my freshman year I going to sit that goal to break his record.” And on possibly winning a state title, “It will feel amazing because I will make history at my school because no one never did that yet at 21st Century”.  Florida Atlantic (D1) got the steal of a lifetime with Johnell Davis as that is where he will be continuing his basketball career.