Knights in the Pros: A.J. Davis Wins Championship in DR

ORLANDO – Former UCF men's basketball star A.J. Davis, who played for the Knights from 2014-18, recently won a championship in the Dominican Republic with Metropolitanos De Mauricio Baez, scoring 26 points in the final-clinching victory.
 
Davis went 8-for-15 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line to secure the victory over San Lazaro for the TBS league championship.
 
A 1,000-point scorer in college, Davis was named all-league for Mauricio Baez after averaging 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in just nine contests this summer.
 
The entire season in the Dominican Republic lasted just a month from May 6-June 6, which allowed Davis to join in after already having played in Sweden and Greece earlier in the 2020-21 season. He started the year with BC Lulea in Sweden before moving to Charilaos in Greece, the same team former Knight Chad Brown played for earlier in the same season.
 
Davis: A Championship is a Championship
"A championship is a championship. It doesn't matter if it's a short league, a long league, a championship is a championship. That's why I play basketball. Anybody who knows me, knows that I just like to win. I could've averaged 30 and it wouldn't have been the same as winning the championship for me."
 
I've Embraced the Traveling
"I've been traveling so much. Even when I come home, I'm going back and forth between Atlanta and Orlando. Life is good. I've embraced the traveling. I enjoyed living in all of the other different countries, especially the food."
 
This is Like My Second Home
"Every time I come to Orlando I have so many flashbacks. I've been coming to this gym longer than any other gym in my life. My whole adult life, I've been around UCF. It feels great to be back. This is like my second home."
 
That Whole NIT Year…That Was My Greatest Memory
"That whole NIT year, that was a lot of fun. It was a struggle. It was up-and-down, but we finished off so strong. I'm originally from Illinois, so that game meant a lot. That was my greatest memory. It was here at home, the crowd stormed the court, Coach held up the apple. That was it for me."
 
Davis plans to head back to the Dominican Republic later this summer for another short league, before deciding what is next for his professional career.
 
While with the Knights for three seasons on the court, Davis scored 997 points and ranks in the top ten in program history with 319 made free throws and 633 rebounds. He helped lead UCF to the semifinals of the NIT in 2017 and was named honorable mention all-conference as a senior.