Athlete for all seasons

For the first time in his basketball-playing career, William Davis begins the winter season a bit behind.

In the past, the Central Valley High School guard spent the fall honing his shot for hours at a time in the gym. By the time practice started, the young Bear was sharp and ready to play.

Not this year.

“I knew when I decided to turn out for football that I wouldn’t be able to put in the kind of time in the gym working on my shot that I normally would,” the senior said. “Football coaches kind of frown on you even touching a basketball during the football season. But I talked it over with (basketball) coach (Rick) Sloan and we decided that the other benefits that would come from playing football would out-weigh the downside.”

While Davis has yet to find his basketball legs, there can be no denying the benefit of his playing football. In his first and only year playing for coach Rick Giampietri, Davis earned second-team All-Greater Spokane League honors as a defensive back in a system second only to state champion Lewis and Clark at stopping GSL offenses.

Shon Davis, a standout running back for the Bears who graduated in the spring, encouraged his younger brother to turn out for football for years and William even made an earlier attempt to play the game.

“I actually turned out for one day, but I quit,” he said. “I always thought that I was too small to play football, that was a game for guys who were a lot bigger than I am. I watched my brother and followed the team. Finally I decided that, what the heck, I’d give it a try since it was my senior year.

“The first couple of days everyone was watching me, wondering what I was going to do – wondering if I was going to stick it out.”

Giampietri put Davis at defensive back and wide receiver – positions that took advantage of his above-average speed, jumping ability and hands. The senior discovered that his basketball skills served him well on the gridiron.

“They really did – it was all about getting your steps down and maintaining your body position in relationship with your opponent. It was about reading the quarterback’s eyes and reacting to the ball,” he said.

By midseason, Davis moved into the starting lineup at cornerback and remained there.

“The spot I took was the one that Connor Janhunen had been playing – he’s been my friend and teammate for a long time,” Davis said. “Even though I was taking his spot, he worked with me and helped me with my footwork and on my skills. That was really unselfish of him.

“In the end, it freed him up to play another position and make our defense that much better.”

The transition from gridiron to hardwood has been challenging, Davis said.

“There are quite a few of us trying make the transition from football to basketball,” Davis said. “It’s tougher to do that I thought it would be. Football is so explosive. Basketball is up and down – you need to get into the rhythm of the game.”

Through their first four games, the Bears have only a win at East Valley to their credit. Still, Sloan says, the parts are there to have a successful team. It’s just a matter of finding the right chemistry.

During Monday’s practice the 12th-year coach challenged his first-team defense by calling over the junior varsity during drills.

“He wanted to light a fire under us and he did,” Davis said. “There’s no way our junior varsity should be able to score on us and yet, they were. We needed to crank it up and get after people.”

Where Davis still feels the after-effects of football is on his shot. Where he would normally feel dialed in by now he’s still struggling to find his shooting rhythm.

“It still doesn’t feel right,” he said. “I get in early and work on the machine to try and get my feel back, but it’s still not quite there.”

Even on free throws.

At the end of Monday’s practice, Sloan challenged his varsity to make seven consecutive free throws before they could leave. Davis was the last one left shooting.

“I’ll get it back,” he promised. “It’s just taking longer than I thought it would.”

What’s needed, he said, is to find a sense of urgency in practice – that burning need to make progress.

“I was lucky to be part of varsity my sophomore year – on the team that went all the way to the state championship game,” he said. “After that last game, as we were leaving the court, Connor and I looked at each other and then took one last look around. We looked at each other. We promised each other that we’d be back.”