Happy ending

Anthony Davis (right) receives award.

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Jerry Drymon and Anthony Davis came together just as Southwestern basketball was making a resurgence. But it nearly didn’t happen. Drymon, who will take over the Clarke College NAIA program in Dubuque next season, had a four-year run as Spartan coach, with the first back-to-back winning seasons since 1999 and 2000. The Spartans were 18-13 in 2006-07, and 17-13 last season. Davis, a 6-10 center from Clarinda, was on the scene for both of those campaigns, and played more than a small part in that success. As a freshman he made the Region XI all-tournament team after scoring 18 points against champion Kirkwood, and as a sophomore he was named to the first all-region team with averages of 14.6 points, 6 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per contest. He shot over 60 percent from the field. Davis moves on to the Division I level next year on scholarship at South Dakota State, recruited heavily by former Harlan prep Rob Klinkefus, now a Jackrabbit assistant coach. Davis ended his Southwestern career being named the college’s Male Athlete of the Year at the annual awards banquet. He will graduate with honors on Friday with an Associate of Arts degree, being a regular member of the President’s List (3.5 GPA and above) during his two years at the school. That’s a far cry from one of the many obstacles Davis faced in his quest to become a Division I basketball player. The first setback was an academic one, as a senior all-stater at Clarinda recruited by Northern Iowa and coach Greg McDermott, now the Iowa State head coach. UNI offer Davis’ first brush with “big-time” basketball came in a visit to a camp on the UNI campus the summer after his junior season. “On the second day, coach McDermott came up to me and asked if I wanted to go on a ride with him,” Davis related. “I thought I was in trouble at first, like I did something wrong. Then he offered me a scholarship.” About two weeks later, Davis verbally committed to Northern Iowa. But there was one hitch. Despite a high school grade average barely under a 3.0 (B) average, he scored a 17 on the ACT entrance exam. He tried again, with the same score. That was one point below the NCAA standard. “I just don’t do well with that kind of test, sitting there for four hours,” Davis said. “They didn’t want me to go through the academic probation and all that, so they recommended that I do juco for a year or two.” Then McDermott accepted the Iowa State job, so Davis’ pending offer at UNI was in question. In the meantime, Drymon had been recruiting Davis, then 6-foot-8, as a post player for Southwestern. But Davis told him he’d accepted an offer from Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, one of the state’s top Division I juco teams. Again, there was an snag in those plans. “Indian Hills had a coaching change,” Davis said. “There was a new head coach, and the assistant that recruited me went to NIACC after they signed me. I did not like the new coach. It didn’t feel right. I was there maybe a week.” At that point, Davis felt “lost.” “I went home and worked at Clarinda Academy as a youth counselor,” Davis said. “My sister is a teacher there. I didn’t have my coaching certificate so I couldn’t help with the basketball team. I didn’t even mess with it, because I knew I was going to try to get back somewhere the next year and start playing again.” It was a year of maturation for Davis, working in a residential foster care facility that provides treatment and care to at-risk and delinquent youths from several states. Many are there through court orders. “It makes you kind of wake up when you hear the kids and the stories of their lives,” Davis said. “You think you have it bad, then you hear their stories. It makes you realize what you have.” Looking to SWCC One thing Davis still had was the interest of Drymon at Southwestern. And, his longtime girlfriend from Clarinda, Nicole Meyer, planned to play women’s basketball at Southwestern upon graduating a year behind Davis. It all began to fall together. “I kept working out in the (Clarinda Academy) gym at nights, and I contacted coach Drymon,” Davis said. “Nicole and I both decided to come to Southwestern, it was kind of a mutual thing. Coach Drymon seemed pretty excited. I felt comfortable with the coach, and the school. It seemed like a good fit.” “He contacted me in November and told me his girlfriend was looking at coming to Southwestern,” Drymon said. “We kept in communication and he signed with us in April.” Young for his grade — he’s just 20 now as a junior to be at SDS — Davis thought his life was back on track. It was in the classroom the next fall, but not so great on the basketball court. “The day after we had a preseason scrimmage at the University of Iowa, I fell on some steps going up to my apartment here,” Davis said. “I tried to catch myself and broke my wrist. It was really frustrating.” Sophomore Chris Worcester and freshman Laurice Ellison assumed major roles in the post position for Southwestern as Davis sat on the sidelines, waiting for his wrist to heal. He missed seven games, then made a brief appearance before the holiday winter break. “He really wasn’t in game shape until about February of his freshman year,” Drymon said. “He came on strong at the end. He got the game-winning basket at Clinton, and looked pretty dominant in the regional tournament with double-doubles in both games.” Having grown an inch each year since starting college, Davis has gone from 6-8 and 190 pounds as a high school player to 6-10 and 245 pounds now. Davis scored 27 points with 11 rebounds in a key home conference win over Iowa Central this year, and had the first 12 points of the game in a 105-55 rout of Central JV in a 25-point performance. Looking ahead He feels Southwestern has prepared him well for the Division I wars in the trenches, especially going against Ellison, a 6-8 all-region leaper, every day in practice. “Anthony is a great ambassador for our program, and a terrific example of what a community college can do for you,” Drymon said. “He did a great job in the classroom. He expanded his game to the 15 and 18-foot jump shot. He has a huge upside at SDS.” The top SWCC athletic honor was icing on the cake. “It kind of surprised me,” Davis said. “I was just sitting there and they called my name. It’s a great honor.”

ANTHONY DAVIS Obstacles faced by Southwestern’s Anthony Davis on his way to earning a Divison I scholarship offer from South Dakota State for 2008-09: