The city of Leeds is located in West Yorkshire, England -- not exactly a paradise for college basketball recruiters -- but Leeds-born Latrell Davis has racked up a number of entries on his passport despite his still youthful age. Davis has earlier gone the FIBA amateur basketball route with England, played for the Great Britain's Under-18 squad, been a member of a pair of English national teams and then graduated with his high school degree from First Baptist Academy in Florida. Now he has rescinded a decision to play at two-year Florida Southwestern College, one the the Sunshine State's premiere hoops community colleges, by accepting a scholarship offer from San Jose State University.
At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds and as a combo guard, Davis already
sports a college-ready body. "That sets him apart and is one
reason he was able to be recruited as a freshman," explained Scott
Stewart, Davis' head coach at First Baptist Academy in Naples.
"He's pretty seasoned, is focused on his goals and is definitely a
leader and hard worker." A captain of his team his last two years,
Davis lived with an area family while residing in Florida.
Stewart has a remarkable tale to tell. While playing as a
six-foot point for Florida from 1989 to 1993 and earning a Final
Four appearance in his junior year, he enjoyed the mentorship of
three prominent NCAA coaches in Norm Sloan, Don DeVoe and Lon
Kruger during his time in Gainesville. Then came 13 years overseas
playing with a bevy of European teams -- "an experience which
helped me understand what a foreign player coming to the United
States is going through," Stewart explained."
Stewart is also the son of a longtime basketball coach -- 36 years
total -- and his father played alongside George Gervin at Eastern
Michigan and under Jim Dutcher. Call the Stewart family basketball bonafides real.
Latrell Davis' Recruiting
With his pool of suitors reaching 10, Davis didn't feel comfortable with the collection. The fit he wanted was missing. As Stewart explained, "Latrell wasn't sold on the original group of schools pursuing him."
Around this same time, Oregon (Phil Knight U) offered Florida
Southwestern College 6-foot-6 sophomore shooting guard Jadrian
Tracey and he committed, demonstrating the reality of jumping to a
high level program after time at FSC.
So Davis decided on Florida Southwestern (FSC) although a new
batch of offers for his services from four-year schools quickly
totaled five, "five nice schools" according to Stewart. They
included Villanova, Florida Atlantic University (which made major
noise in last year's Big Dance) and San Jose State University.
The Spartan coaching staff pressed their case stating "he's
physically ready and we don't want to wait until next year."
Intrigued by the SJSU offer, Davis took a look at game film of
Spartan guard Omari Moore (the 6-foot-6 Moore enjoyed a brilliant
season which concluded with him being drafted in the second round
by the Milwaukee Bucks).
As Stewart explained, "I'd give the whole (San Jose State
University) coaching staff an 'A.' Assistant Coach Jeff Strom
started it, then the whole staff joined in, including a Zoom call
that included Latrell's mother. They put on a full court press."
Most promising is Stewart's assessment of Davis: "I definitely think he has a chance to blow up."
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