It was a reputation earned over time. Maybe after a scowl directed at a teammate. Or a jog up the court as an opponent sped away for a lay-up. Even after he left Hayfield over the summer and transferred to Patriot District rival T.C. Williams, the talk followed Mike Davis: He doesn’t play hard. He doesn’t love the game. He’ll never reach his potential.
“Of course I’d hear people say things. I knew what some people thought of me,” said Davis, a 6-foot-8, 185-pound senior center. “But I just felt like if I came to T.C., did my job, won district and region player of the year and made my team better then all that [talk] would go away.”
His play this season — Davis averages 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game — has gone a long way towards silencing any critics. But old beliefs die hard in athletic competition and that reputation may have lingered among Patriot District coaches, who, despite his impressive stats and his team’s undefeated district record, voted Davis co-player of the year along with West Springfield senior guard Kevin Kilday (19.8 ppg).
His new teammates at T.C. Williams played against Davis while he was at Hayfield the previous three seasons and several were AAU teammates. But even they needed convincing when Davis first arrived in Alexandria in September.
“Mike was a great player in moments last year, but I guess we knew he didn’t play like that all thetime,” said T.C. Williams senior guard Glenn Andrews. “A lot of people thought he’d never change. But he’s shocked me because he’s became one of our hardest workers.”
Davis has drawn the attention of major Division I college recruiters. According to T.C. Williams coach Ivan Thomas, Davis has received interest from Auburn, Illinois, George Washington and West Virginia in recent weeks. Davis still has some academic work to do to qualify, however, and said he may head to South Kent School (Conn.), one of the country’s top prep school programs.
“I just had to mature,” Davis said. “There were times last year where I had a bad attitude towards some of my teammates and didn’t always do the things I needed to do and that’s what people saw. I’ve changed all that. Now I want to help T.C. win a state title.”
Among the Titans
» At Hayfield last season, Davis averaged 16.2 points per game and helped the Hawks to a 18-9 record. But they lost at home to Marshall in the first round of the Northern Region tournament.
» T.C. Williams (18-3) is ranked No. 6 in the latest Examiner Top 10 poll entering tonight’s Patriot District tournament quarterfinal vs. Lee.
» The Titans have won 31 straight games vs. district competition since a 65-51 loss to Lake Braddock in the Patriot District semifinals on Feb. 17, 2005.
