Davis comes to Utah Valley after earning Western Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team honors during his freshman season at Utah Tech in 2025-26. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard appeared in 33 games and made 26 starts for the Trailblazers, averaging 7.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

“Tanner is a big, tough guard who loves to compete on both ends of the floor,” Phillips said. “He had a terrific freshman year, and we expect him to just keep getting better. What I love about Tanner’s game is his ability to be a Swiss Army knife. He will dunk on you on one end and take a charge on the other. He plays with great energy and toughness.”

Davis scored in double figures 12 times during his freshman campaign, including a season-high 17 points in his collegiate debut at South Dakota. He also scored 16 points against UT Arlington and added 12 points against Utah Valley later in the season.

A native of Smithfield, Utah, Davis starred at Sky View High School, where he earned Region 11 Player of the Year and first-team all-state honors while leading the Bobcats to the 2023 Utah Class 4A State Championship.

During his standout prep career, Davis averaged 14.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game as a junior while recording 21 double-figure scoring performances and multiple double-doubles. He helped lead Sky View to back-to-back deep postseason runs, including a state semifinal appearance in 2022 and a state championship in 2023.

Davis played AAU basketball for Utah Gold and will enter Utah Valley with sophomore athletic and academic standing. He plans to major in finance.

Davis joins a Utah Valley program coming off back-to-back outright WAC regular-season championships and consecutive 25-win seasons under Phillips.