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The first time I met John Davis, one immediate thought came to mind.
The story must be true.
As an introduction to South Rowan basketball, Post assistant sports editor Mike London spun quite a yarn for me. Before joining the Post full-time, London coached junior varsity girls basketball at South Rowan. The JV boys coach at the time was Davis.
It seems that after a bad call one day, Davis grabbed one of those metal trays that holds a few dozen cups of water and flung it angrily. The dutiful referee raced over to call a technical foul, took one look at the glowering Davis — and did an about-face.
The water got wiped up, the game resumed and Davis continued to pace the sidelines, tech-free.
Davis played college hoops at St.Andrews, but in truth he looks like he played linebacker somewhere. The 6-foot-5 head coach of the Raiders basketball team likely could out-lift anyone on the South football squad and strikes an intimidating presence on the court.
That’s why, following South’s season-ending defeat to North Davidson on Monday, the red-rimmed, watery eyes presented such a contrast.
As player after player filed out of the locker room, there wasn’t a dry eye to be found. Not on their faces, or on any of the coaches.
“It’s been a hard year, a rough year,”Davis said quietly.
Davis wasn’t talking about life on the court. South lost quite a bit of talent from last year’s squad and lost quite a few games. The Raiders’ 12-13 campaign ended in the first round of the Central Piedmont Conference Tournament on a last-second shot.
But even before the first practices this season, South struggled with adversity. In October, Davis’ father died unexpectedly. David Perry Davis was just 58.
“All of them were there,”Davis said of his players. “This group means a lot. They’ve been there for me more than I’ve been there for them, when I needed them most. They don’t really know what that’s meant.”
For high schoolers, dealing with death is a foreign, uncomfortable subject. But the Raiders sensed how hurt their coach was and rallied around him.
“He needed some help getting through that and he told us we were pretty meaningful to him, helping him through that time,”junior Andrew Morgan said. “He was really appreciative of that.”
Thanks to the non-stop pace of basketball season, Davis and the Raiders quickly returned to their normal routine.
Practice, game, practice, game. Hard work, fun times, memories to last a lifetime.
A few tears started coming from the players when the final buzzer sounded Monday night. Then the Raiders trudged into the locker room and began reflecting on their time together —both good and bad.
That’s when the floodgates opened for all involved.
“It really means something to us for our coach to get emotional like that,”Morgan said. “He started telling us how much we meant to him over the past year or two, and he means just as much to us as we mean to him.
“We look to him for our leadership and our guidance, and when we see him break down like that it makes us all emotional, too.”
For a coach to put together a winning season teaching the game of basketball is one thing.
To teach lessons about life, about dealing with emotions and not being afraid to show them, is one that will last far longer than the distant memory of a won-loss record.
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4256 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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