Memphis' Kyvon Davenport quickly shows he belongs

Memphis point guard Jeremiah Martin eavesdropped on the conversation during the bus ride to FedExForum last Thursday and initially filed it away as just the latest quirk that he had gleaned from his new roommate.

Before the Tigers’ exhibition game against LeMoyne-Owen, forward Kyvon Davenport declared that he wasn’t worried about scoring. Instead, Martin heard him say, “I’m trying to see if I can get 10 rebounds.”

More:Memphis Tigers basketball beats LeMoyne-Owen, 101-78, in exhibition game

But once Davenport proceeded to score a team-high 19 points that night, Martin understood more than ever how important it was that he take this 6-foot-8 junior-college transfer under his wing this season. 

 “I knew he was gonna go out and play good because he don’t worry about anything else,” Martin said after the exhibition game. “He ended up having the most points on the team, which is something he wasn’t even looking for."

"He’s just an unselfish person and I’m always on him. And he never gets mad at me when I’m on him, because I don’t want him to think I’m picking on him. I just see it in him, and I just love him and I know he can play hard.”

As the Memphis men’s basketball team prepares for its regular-season opener against No. 25 Alabama in Annapolis, Md., on Friday (5:30 p.m. CT, CBS Sports Network), Davenport is quickly becoming an intriguing figure among the Tigers’ eight new scholarship players.

More:Memphis Tigers 2017-18 men's basketball roster preview

The Gainesville, Ga., native started playing basketball only in the ninth grade, when he got bored and noticed all his friends were participating in after-school activities. Even now, after scoring 1,000 career points in high school and developing into a junior-college All-American at Georgia Highlands College, Davenport admits to not regularly watching the sport.

He prefers cartoons and watches them religiously. As fellow junior-college transfer and roommate Mike Parks Jr. put it last week, “That’s all I hear all day and he just be laughing. He’s one of the goofiest on the team.”

Nonetheless, Davenport’s on-court transition to Memphis belies his relative inexperience. Martin, for instance, didn’t know Davenport had been playing basketball for only six years until a reporter mentioned it.

“He’s very poised, patient, under control, very unselfish,” coach Tubby Smith said of Davenport. “He’s a team-first guy. Excellent defender. He’s got a complete game. He doesn’t have many weaknesses. I just think he’s really fundamentally sound in just about every area, and that’s why we recruited him.”

Davenport led the Tigers with 11 points and nine rebounds in their scrimmage with defending national champion North Carolina last month. He followed that up with another all-around performance against LeMoyne-Owen.

In addition to 19 points, Davenport grabbed seven rebounds, blocked two shots, had two steals, dished out two assists and even hit a 3-pointer.

“It’s new to me. It’s a big step from JUCO,” Davenport said afterward. “But I feel the more I’m playing, the more I’m getting used to and the more team chemistry we’re putting together.”

More:Get to know new Memphis forward Kyvon Davenport

It’s Davenport’s attitude, more than the emergence of his versatile skillset, that has left an impression on teammates.

Although Martin and senior Jimario Rivers agreed Davenport is the most athletic player on this year’s team, Davenport claimed “playing hard really gets me going.”

It’s a function of the fact that “when I first started playing basketball, I would have never thought I’d be here,” he added.

Alabama will be short-handed vs. Memphis

Alabama could be missing three key players when it faces Memphis on Friday.

Most notably, McDonald's All-American point guard Collin Sexton was held out of the Crimson Tide’s 74-65 win over Alabama-Huntsville on Monday night in an exhibition game. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne announced in a statement the school was informed on Monday that Sexton had not had his eligibility reinstated by the NCAA.

Sexton and a former Alabama basketball administrator are allegedly involved in the FBI’s investigation into college basketball recruiting that has embroiled several schools. The five-star recruit was tabbed a preseason All-SEC selection last month.

In addition, Alabama coach Avery Johnson said after the exhibition game that last year's leading scorer, sophomore Braxton Key (12 points, 5.7 rebounds), suffered a meniscus injury this week and would undergo surgery Tuesday. Senior Riley Norris also has been dealing with a hip injury this preseason and did not play in Monday’s game.