Will Davis. Photo Credit: UC Irvine Athletics
Will Davis II went to UC Irvine to win a championship and go the NCAA Tournament. It’s a journey that proved to be far longer and more winding than he had ever expected, but that much sweeter when he eventually reached his final destination.
“It feels great because looking back in 20 years at UC Irvine, you can say ‘oh it was Will Davis, Travis Souza and John Ryan’s class that led UC Irvine to their first NCAA tournament’,” says Davis, a senior forward and First Team All-Conference selection on leading the Anteaters to the first NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s 38 year Division I history.
“It’s just great to make school history my last year here,” he says, before adding, “it definitely took a little longer than I thought.”
Humble beginnings.
Now standing 6’8” and 210 pounds, Davis was born and raised in Sacramento, Calif., one of Theresa and Will Davis Sr.’s five children. Davis says he was always a big kid with good athleticism, but picked up the game late and was far from a natural on the court.
“I was kind of a late bloomer in basketball because I didn’t play at all in middle school, so the first time I played organized basketball was probably my freshman year in high school,” says Davis, who didn’t make the varsity at Sacramento High School until his junior year and didn’t start until he was a senior. “I played JV my freshman and sophomore years, then I got moved up to varsity my junior and senior years.
As a senior, Davis averaged 11 points and 12 rebounds per game, earning All-Metro League honors, but he received only one Division I scholarship offer, from Air Force. It was then that Davis took a long look in the mirror, and decided that he had not given everything he had to the game, and vowed to get better, enrolling at New Hampton Prep, a prestigious prep basketball program in New Hampshire, while finally “getting serious” about basketball.
“I started getting more serious into working out going into my senior year at prep school, and obviously at college you have a staff that’s around you to work you out more, so that’s been a great experience in my development over the years.”
Playing in the NEPSAC, one of the best prep leagues in the country, Davis’ began to blossom, and scholarship offers started rolling in. But his heart still resided under the California sun, and when UC Irvine offered, Davis took a visit, and immediately fell in love.
“I went to prep school on the east coast in New Hampshire where I got that experience of being in that gray area, but then I decided I wanted to come back to California,” says Davis. “That’s where my family is from and I obviously love to have my family come up for games and that’s been a good experience.”
According to Davis, several coaches from far programs with far more storied histories tried to dissuade him from enrolling at UC Irvine.
“They said ‘why go there when you can come here and win,’” he says, ‘but I thought wherever I’d go I’d win.”
And according to Davis, the reception he received and culture of the program at UC Irvine was unlike any others he encountered during the recruiting process.
“UC Irvine was like a real family experience when I came on my visit here and that was different from the other visits I went on, so that was great.”
Davis made an immediate impact for the Anteaters, breaking the programs single-season record for most blocked shots in a single-season with 55 as a freshman, before smashing his own record with 88 rejections a year later (one more year later and 7’6” center Mamadou Ndiaye would break Davis’ record). As a sophomore, Davis earned the Big West’s award for Best Defensive Player and was named to CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Defensive All-America team.
As a junior, Davis was a preseason first team All-Conference selection, but while he led the team in scoring and rebounds, was not selected for the award. But according to Davis, the far deeper sting came when the Anteaters, who had won the Big West regular season championship, were upset in the Big West Tournament.
“We really thought last year was going to be our year,” he says.
There were times during his senior year when things looked bleak for Davis and his Anteaters, who suffered through a litany of injuries, but Davis vowed not to go down without a fight.
“We’ve had injuries to John (Ryan), Dominique (Denning), Luke (Nelson), Mamadou (Ndiaye) and Alex (Young), so (Russell) Turner came up to me and told me I needed to take on more of a leadership role,” Davis said. “I felt like I could ride into that, being a senior leader on this team and also with Travis (Souza) and John taking on big loads as well.”
Davis led UC Irvine in scoring and rebounds, at 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, respectively, while shooting .541 from the floor and .707 from the line to earn Big West First Team All-Conference honors as a senior.
“It was great because last year I was picked in the preseason to be first team all-conference and I ended up not being on it, I didn’t have that well of a conference season last year,” he says. “This year I wasn’t picked, so that was a little more motivation for me to show the conference what kind of player I actually am. I
“It’s given me more confidence that head coaches from other teams vote on it, so it’s something that coaches from other teams have confidence in my ability to play.”
In the Big West tournament, he put the Anteaters on his back, posting double-doubles in all three games, averaging 15 points and 12 rebounds while shooting .667 from the floor to earn he tournament MVP honors and finally punch his ticket to The Big Dance.
“It’s an amazing feeling. This is what I came here to do, and it took us longer than I thought, but that makes it feel that much more incredible,” he says.
Now, Davis is focused on trying to write yet another new chapter in UC Irvine history tonight night when his No. 13 Anteaters team takes on No. 4 seed Louisville tonight in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“The mentality right now is that we just gotta’ prepare. We know they have a great team and great coach in Rick (Pitino), so we’re not taking them lightly at all, and hopefully we can keep it close.”
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