Davis Bynum, East St. Louis senior forward, commits to Cal State Fullerton basketball
EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS – Davis Bynum was a key component of the East St. Louis basketball team's run to the third-place finish in the Illinois 3A tournament a year ago.
On Wednesday, the Flyers standout senior announced he will continue his basketball career at Cal State Fullerton.
"The coaching staff, it felt like me hanging out with the coaching staff that I've got now," Bynum said. "It was like a deep connection. Then I've got Twan (Antwan Robinson) that used to go to East Side. He's on the team and I feel like he could be a mentor to me since he's already been there. He was a mentor for me when I was here."
"Not everybody gets to experience going to California," Bynum added. "I wanted to get the experience of living in Cali. I like the area. The school was nice. I liked everything about it when I went on my visit."
A versatile 6-foot-7 senior, Bynum had announced four finalists: Illinois State, Cal State Fullerton, Lindenwood and Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
At Cal State Fullerton, Bynum will be reunited with former teammate Antwan Robinson, who is a freshman guard with the Titans.
Bynum averaged 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season as East St. Louis went 26-9.
He was the Flyers' fifth-leading scorer behind four seniors, including Kansas State signee Macaleab Rich and Robinson. Bynum finished as the team's third-leading rebounder and was also third on the team with 24 3-pointers.
East St. Louis 2024 swingman Davis Bynum
Nate Latsch photo
With Rich, Robinson and the graduated seniors moving on from last year's third-place squad, Bynum said he will now take on more of a leadership role for the Flyers this season.
"I want to not average only the most points, but the most assists, the most rebounds, the most blocks, I want to be able to lead my team," Bynum said. "I want to be able to have my team depend on me when, like, we're down one and we need a bucket. I want for them to depend on me how they would depend on Macaleab last year."
Bynum said he has expanded his game considerably in the past year – "I think I've gotten way better since last year," he said – but also acknowledged there's always more he can improve."
The East St. Louis senior also has plenty to prove.
Bynum has flown under the radar as a prospect. Recruiting websites 247Sports and On3 don't have profile pages for him and Rivals has a page but it looks like he has not been evaluated yet.
"I want to prove that like I'm a high-major player," Bynum said. "Most people think I'm a low-major to mid-major. I want to prove that I'm a high-major. ... Not everybody knows about me yet, but once the season starts they are going to start figuring out about me."
East St. Louis coach Mark Chambers described Bynum as a "hybrid" player who can do a lot of different things all over the court.
"He can play a number of different positions. I let him run the point. I let him play the wing. He posts up. Defensively, he's really, really improved and he's going to really excel at the college level. Probably on the wing. They are going to use him in a lot of different ways as well."
The Flyers coach has high expectations for his senior this season.
"We expect him to be one of the leaders of the team – just be a star in his role," Chambers said. "Obviously it's going to be a little bit different than last year, but he's worked really hard this summer to really get to that point to where he can be one of those leaders and help take us to Champaign."
Chambers said Bynum will be the 24th player since he became the Flyers' head coach in 2018 who will go on from East St. Louis to play college basketball.
"That's what it's about," Chambers said. "Some coaches chase championships or rings and all of that stuff. We want scholarships here. We want to change lives and that's what it's about. We've changed a lot of kids' lives and we're not done."
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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL
East St. Louis senior Davis Bynum commits to Cal State Fullerton
Nate Latsch photo
