And, of course, trying to be a regular high school student.
“It’s really a blessing. It’s all going so fast and everything’s been hitting me,” Davis said. “I’m thinking about going to college, the 1,000 points and all the stuff with the games. It’s going so fast. It’s just like whew, I’m trying to slow it down a little bit so I can get my head back on track. But it’s a blessing and I thank God for it.”
Springfield’s meat-grinder schedule continues today at the Flyin’ to the Hoop boys invitational. Springfield (9-3) plays Massillon Jackson (9-2) at 1:30 p.m.
College coaches such as Kentucky’s John Calipari, Ohio State’s Thad Matta and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo often make the trip to the nation’s second-ranked high school basketball hoops fest. At least one top 10 NBA draft pick has played in the event the last five seasons. Izzo was there Friday.
It’s easy for teams to get caught up in the Trent’s standing-room-only electric atmosphere. The Wildcats could use a jolt from the high-intensity environment. Springfield is coming off a lackluster 61-47 win at Beavercreek on Friday.
That followed up an 85-50 loss on Jan. 8 to Greater Western Ohio Conference rival and defending state champ Wayne.
“We just have to play it as a regular game,” Davis said. “I know the crowd and the college coaches are going to be there, but we have to stay composed. Not be selfish and work as a team and we’ll be okay.
“(The loss to Wayne) really set us straight because we were getting a little big-headed. We’ve been going a lot harder in practice. We used to joke around but we’re straight on. We know what we gotta do. It’s good that we got smacked by them. I’m glad it happened but at the same time it hurts. It’s a learning curve.”
Davis — a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard — leads Springfield with 18.5 points, 3.1 assists, 2.6 steals and 24 three-pointers. He also averages a third-best 6.5 rebounds.
“I think Danny is a gamer,” Springfield coach Isaiah Carson said. “When the (gym) lights come on he shows up. We look for him to make the correct play every time. He’ll have the ball in his hands a lot of the time and look for him and (junior guard) Mike McKay to make the play.”
By scoring his 1,000th career point midway through his junior season Davis has a chance to break Springfield’s career scoring record (including North, South and Springfield). Carson thinks his brother, the late John Carson, is the leader with 1,472 career points for South.
“If anybody deserves it it’s (Danny),” Carson said. “He’s a humble kid and he’s talented. He’s doing it within the system and helping us win games. He’s unselfish about it and we’re happy about his success. … He’s a special player and we’re happy to have him.”
Davis does his best work, though, on the football field. Last season he finished second in the GWOC in rushing (1,259 yard) and third in receiving (700). His league-leading 2,482 all-purpose yards were 969 more than the next closest person. He also led the GWOC with 23 overall touchdowns.
He said he has 15 football scholarship offers including ones from Big Ten champion Michigan State, runner-up Iowa, Kentucky, West Virginia and Duke. Florida State and Miami (Fla.) have also flooded his mailbox with interest.
With no college basketball offers yet Davis will likely choose football. He said Xavier and Davidson have shown the most interest, with Dayton showing some.
For now Davis’ focus is on Springfield. He and his teammates want to continue to restore the roar to the ‘Cats basketball program. The team is a win away from its fourth straight double-digit victory season. Springfield had one in a four-year span prior to that since North and South merged before the 2009 season.
“As a team that’s what we want to do, put Springfield back on the map,” Davis said. “We’ve been down so many years. We want to make this city happy.”
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