‘Super athletic’ KU freshman Jaliya Davis had viral social media moment in July
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jaliya Davis' July viral dunk highlighted elite leaping and natural forward fit.
- Davis arrives at KU as a top-20 2025 recruit and scored efficiently at Late Night.
- Coaches and teammates cite Davis' athleticism as an immediate asset for KU's 2025 team.
Jaliya Davis — who is listed at 6-foot-2 on the Kansas women’s basketball roster but in actuality thinks she might stretch to 6-3 — showed off her athleticism and leaping ability in a July 22 video captured on social media site X.
The former Blue Valley North sensation — the second McDonald’s All-American to sign with KU out of high school — placed a volleyball in her right hand while standing outside the 3-point stripe in the Jayhawks’ practice gym. She raced through the middle of the lane and completed her dash to the goal with a one-handed dunk for the internet to see.
“I mean I’ve been working on that for a long time. Just getting in the gym and putting the work in to get up there to that level is something that I think is super cool,” Davis said Tuesday in an interview with The Star during Big 12 women’s basketball media day in T-Mobile Center.
Davis believes it’s a matter of time before she can deposit an official sized women’s basketball through the hoop off a two-foot hop.
“I mean, I work on it every single day, so hopefully I’ll get to that point. I’m going to say I can do it. I mean, I’m going to get there,” Davis stated, quickly noting that 6-2 freshman Tatyonna Brown also can slam dunk a volleyball.
Davis’ athleticism has made a believer of fellow Kansas City-area Jayhawk standout S’Mya Nichols, a 6-0 junior point guard out of Shawnee Mission West.
“Super athletic,” Nichols said in a media day interview with The Star. “After a whole 2 1/2-hour practice max, she’ll go and dunk the ball for fun. That’s how athletic she is, doing that after practice. She’s a great rim runner. She’s super-duper fast. Her feet and her agility with the basketball in her hand and just being aware of where she is … that’s athleticism, right there.”
Senior Elle Evans, who went 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc in Friday’s short 10-minute intrasquad scrimmage at Late Night in the Phog, says Davis is as talented as advertised.
Davis arrived at KU this past summer as the No. 19 prospect in the recruiting class of 2025 by ESPNW, the highest-ranked recruit signed by Kansas since ESPNW began rankings in 2007.
“Oh my gosh, she’s really dunking the basketball, so her athletic ability I think is something that is definitely going to help us, and I’m super excited to have that on my team this year,” Evans said Tuesday. “Between her and Tatyonna they’re able to get up far beyond the rim, and I’m just wondering, man, how great that would be to be able to jump like that. We’re super grateful to have that on our team.”
Evans has enjoyed watching that X post of Davis dunking the volleyball.
“It was awesome that got put out there,” Evans said. “But I mean that’s just a snippet of her athletic ability. If she can do that, she can do so many other things.”
Davis is the daughter of former Oklahoma Sooners standout William Davis and former international track standout Yvonne Morris. She chose KU over dad’s alma mater, OU, plus Baylor, Texas and South Carolina.
“I got it from both my parents,” Davis said of natural athletic ability. “My dad played basketball, and he was a high-flier too, so I think he really got me there. My mom ran track so she’s kind of helped me run the floor.”
William Davis sometimes informs Jaliya how it was at OU in 1989-90 when he averaged 16.6 points and 8.5 boards for Billy Tubbs’ Sooners.
“Yeah, he likes to tell me how he was back in the day and how he used to play. And he kind of just likes to tell me that I came from him,” Jaliya Davis said, smiling.
Jaliya Davis showed off her inside skills in scoring 10 points off 5-of-5 shooting at Friday’s Late Night scrimmage. She had three rebounds in her unofficial KU debut.
“I would say I’m more of a forward. I’d consider myself a 4,” said Davis, the all-time leading scorer at Blue Valley North (1,735 points) who helped the school win two Class 6A state titles.
“I like to go out there and shoot a little bit, too. I think just being able to play the game I know, and just doing it every single time I step on the court, I think that’s something that I’m really going to show this year. I just really want to do what I know how to do. I don’t want to do anything that’s not in my comfort zone and I just want to make an impact.”
Of her Late Night performance, coach Brandon Schneider said: “I think she was really strong around the basket, and I think (she) has worked tirelessly to add other things to her game, which I think will show themselves once we get into competition.”
Davis, who said she grew up wanting to be a Jayhawk, said now that her career in Lawrence is beginning, “I think it’s super cool just being able to be a hometown kid and come in here and do what I know how to do. I think it’s a really cool opportunity.”
She already has developed a close relationship with Nichols, who averaged 18.6 points, 4.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds her sophomore year for the Jayhawks.
“I think we have a really good relationship. We’re super close friends. We text a lot. I can ask her for favors, and she’s always there for me. She’s definitely a big support system,” Davis said.
“We hung out (Davis’ senior year) a lot up to my commitment and she really helped me, push me over the edge (to sign with KU),” Davis added. “I’m really family oriented as well, so being able to stay close to home was important to me.”
Since arriving … “I think everybody has been really open-armed,” Davis said. “Everybody just welcomed me. It immediately felt like family.”
Schneider has told the story of Nichols electing to stay in the Jayhawks’ apartment complex for her junior season when Schneider gives juniors the option to move away from the team if they so desire.
“I love having her there,” Davis said of team-leader Nichols. “I mean, it’s really hard to want to move out of those apartments. The apartment is super nice there (on the edge of campus). We get our own room, own bathroom, you know, queen-size bed. I mean, it kind of just feels like I’m at home.”
Of her decision to stay close to not only Davis but the rest of the Jayhawks, Nichols told The Star: “I think we’ve come a long way. I think that KU basketball is on the rise, and I stayed there just to make sure that I had a bond with the new players and that they felt comfortable enough with me off the court and especially on the court.”
The Jayhawks will meet Fort Hays State in an exhibition game on Oct. 29 (6:30 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse), then open for real against Kansas City on Nov. 5 (6:30 p.m., Allen).
“I think we really are the real deal. I think we are definitely underrated in that ranking (sixth in Big 12 in league coaches poll). I mean, I think there’s also really other good teams out there, but I think we are underrated,” Davis said.
She will do what she can to help KU vie for the conference title and a berth in the NCAAs.
“I think they (fans) should know every single time I walk on the court I’m going to do all I can do,” Davis said. “I’m going to play with all the energy. I’m going to leave it all out there and empty my cup.”
Grinning when asked if she can become a face of college basketball such as past college women’s phenoms Caitlin Clark (Iowa) and Angel Reese (Maryland, LSU), Davis said: “I mean, I hope at some point yeah I can get there. But I’m not going to say that I am the face, but I would say I want to get there at some point.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2025 at 4:58 PM with the headline "‘Super athletic’ KU freshman Jaliya Davis had viral social media moment in July."
