Friday Features: PJ Davis Leaves Indelible Mark on DSU Hoops
By Chris Megginson
Sunday’s Gulf South Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Game marked consecutive game No. 122 for Delta State University senior
PJ Davis. It was a game the Statesmen were not expected to be in after entering the last four weeks of the regular season with a 10-14 record.
But Davis and his Statesmen defied the odds after losing two players to injury earlier in the season. Davis scored 31 on the road at Christian Brothers for a two-point win on Valentine’s Day and shot 60 percent in a Senior Day win over Mississippi College to earn the No. 5 seed in the GSC Tournament. From there, he dropped 24 points to help Delta State upset the No. 1 seed Valdosta State and then scored 20 points to power the Statesmen to double overtime in the GSC Final before falling short to West Florida, 71-65.
“We did an excellent job. We came together. We played as one. You could really tell we were a team on a mission, even from preparation, the practices, the walk through, the scouting meetings,” Davis said. “We fell short in the championship, but that loss was one of the best games we played. The team gave everything they had and they fought to the very end.”
For Davis, his take on how the team reached the final and almost pulled off two of the biggest upsets in recent GSC Tournament history all traces back to how DSU Coach Jim Boone defines him.
“I thought PJ did a great job with his team, being extremely positive, leading by example, leading verbally in the locker room and off the court in the community,” Boone said.
“He’s been the epitome of consistency,” Boone added. “We have a no days off philosophy in our program, and he literally takes that to the nth degree because he comes ready to go every day. He’s like the Energizer Bunny in practice. That consistency and work ethic he’s displayed throughout his career has parlayed into his performance on the court.”
That performance includes etching his name into the Delta State record book in the Top 10 of at least eight categories, including eighth in career points (1,350), sixth in rebounds (746), second in games played (122) and No. 1 in career blocked shots (199).
Through his time at Delta State, Davis never missed a single day of practice and played in every game, a rare accomplishment.
“To go the whole four years without missing a practice or a game was really a blessing, especially to stay injury free and to be able to consistently show up to practice every day and consistently give everything to my team,” Davis said.
His career ended up reminding several DSU fans of another Statesmen player named Davis, who helped lead the Statesmen to a GSC final 25 years ago.
PJ Davis, or Jon Paul Davis, Jr., is the son of Paul Davis, Sr., who played four years for the Statesmen, setting a record of 84 career blocked shots by the end of the 1993-94 season.
“It’s a whirlwind that my son, who has the same name, has gone above and beyond his dad. That’s the proudest moment of my life, beside him being born,” said Davis, Sr. “He was hungry to block shots, just like I was.”
PJ Davis, who has always lived in Cleveland, Mississippi, said his father’s playing career did not play a factor in his decision to seek a four-year education and playing career at Delta State. In fact, he said he always knew his dad was a great player at Delta Sate, but didn’t realize how good until he was looking at a record book two years ago. The full realization of his dad’s accomplishments didn’t sink in until an interview with local TV reporter Jourdan Black earlier this season: 1,151 career points (10
th on the DSU all-time scoring list), second in career steals (167), 11
th in field goal attempts (907), 110 career games, a GSC title and NCAA DII Region appearance in 1993.
“She kept reading off all of these accolades, and I was like, ‘Really? My Daddy did that? Man, the dude was cold!’” Davis said.
Not long after PJ Davis was born, his parents separated. PJ lived with his mother Margaret Cotton and grew up playing basketball for his uncle, Coach Leroy Cotton, at East Side High School, where he was an All-State First Team selection and state runner-up twice.
“My uncle and mom are big parts in my life,” PJ Davis said. “The one thing they always tried to instill in me is to remain humble in everything you do, because when you remain humble a lot of good things happen to you, and when you allow negativity to creep into anything you do, it’ll ruin you. I’ve always tried to look on the brighter of side of things and people and that carried over into my attitude towards the game of basketball and life.”
Davis would visit his father in Georgia during the summers. At one point, they didn’t talk much, according to PJ, but around his senior year at East Side, he began to open up to his dad more. He says it came with his own personal maturity.
“I’ve grown up with people who never met their dad. Some didn’t know them, some had passed away, but my dad was still here,” Davis said. “I started to understand that his bad mistakes are the past and there is no reason to hold grudges, especially when that’s your dad and you only get one dad, and having a dad who not only played the game but was a great player and understands what it takes to be successful.”
Davis, Sr., who now lives in Memphis, Tennessee, was only able to attend a few games a year, but said he would stream games whenever there was an option. As PJ Davis’ career went on and his success began to grow on the court, so did his relationship with his father.
“Our relationship has really gone to a new level. I’ve called him many times after games just to talk about it,” PJ Davis said. “Having him as that go-to guy in my corner has been really good or me in my career.”
As Davis began to pass his father in the record books, his dad says they have talked more and more.
“We’ve had some great conversations about leadership and memories about certain plays regarding different records,” Davis said. “I had fun doing it.”
The entire journey takes Paul Davis, Sr., back to a memory of playing ball with a then 8-year-old PJ at the park. When PJ would attempt a 3, his dad would block it.
“He would say, ‘Dad, you beat me.’ And I said, ‘One day, I’ll be able to tell you the same thing, son, you beat me.’ That was the most exciting thing I ever heard is when he broke countless records I set at Delta State. It was heart-warming to know my son strived to be better than I was,” said Davis, Sr. “He’s had an amazing career at Delta State … He came in hardnosed and ready to work. He proved himself day-in and day-out that he wants to be better and work hard at his craft.”
That is part of why Coach Boone says PJ Davis will leave a hole in the Statesmen program.
“He’s going to be missed greatly. It’s not just what he produced for us on the court which is going to leave a big hole but it’s what he’s done for our program in how he’s represented Delta State and the type of young man he is,” Boone said.
Davis, a social science education major with one semester remaining for student teaching, plans to pursue his dream of being able to play professionally, but ultimately wants to build a career teaching and coaching.
Follow Megginson on Twitter @jcmeggs. Email comments to megginsonjc@gmail.com.
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2017-18 Friday Features Archive
September 1 |
Mississippi College
September 8 |
Montevallo
September 15 |
Valdosta State
September 22 |
West Georgia
September 29 |
Alabama Huntsville
October 6 |
Union
October 13 |
West Alabama
October 20 |
West Florida
October 27 |
Delta State
November 3 |
Christian Brothers
November 10 |
Shorter
November 17 |
North Alabama
November 24 |
Lee
December 1 |
AUM
December 8 |
West Florida
Decemeber 15 |
Mississippi College
December 22 |
Lee
December 29 |
West Alabama
January 5 |
Valdosta State
January 12 |
Christian Brothers
January 19 |
Montevallo
January 26 |
AUM
February 2 |
Mississippi College
February 9 |
West Florida
February 16 |
North Alabama
February 23 |
Alabama Huntsville
March 2 |
Broadcasters