The offseason talk regarding wing Davis Fogle was all about the massive jump that the sophomore was going to make. From what was seen during his 30-point Kraziness in the Kennel performance, that chatter over the summer was right to be had.
Fogle was listed as one of the 20 preseason nominees for the Julius Erving Award, which is given to the top small forward in the country.
Past Gonzaga winners of this award include forward Rui Hachimura in 2018-19 and guard Corey Kispert in 2020-21.
The now 20-year-old, 6-7 Fogle averaged 8.6 points on a shooting split of 51.8 field goal percentage/35.0 three-point percentage/72.3 free throw percentage in 16.8 minutes across 30 games played. With his minutes expected to rise dramatically, assistant coach Stephen Gentry worked alongside the Anacortes, Washington, native on his shooting mechanics and form over the past five months.
Fogle is being given much more responsibility and trust from his coaching staff in Year 2 as he begins to rise up numerous NBA Draft boards. He’s as versatile as a scorer can come at his age, creating buckets for himself with pull-up jumpers and off-ball finishing at the rim.
If he can stretch the floor all the way out at the three-point at a higher/more consistent clip, Fogle would have the full package for the next level as a three-level threat.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho