DRC..Davis earns All-American votes..

OldTimer · November 22, 2002

Davis easy candidate to endorse

Senior earning national attention after earning All-America votes

11/21/2002

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

The promotional flyers featuring senior swingman Chris Davis have been printed and mailed out to the media by the North Texas sports information department. The preseason votes have been tallied.

University of North Texas senior guard Chris Davis is an All-America candidate. He led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring last season, and will lead the Mean Green into its season opener at Southwest Missouri State Friday.

It?s official: The Mean Green has an authentic All-America candidate.

Davis, one of 27 players to receive votes for the Associated Press? preseason All-America team, is the kind of guy who is easy to endorse. He?s one of the most prolific scorers in the nation and consistently stuffs the box score in several other categories. He also has squeaky-clean character to match his sterling statistics.

"I think Chris has done everything that a team or coach or fan could ask of him, on and off the floor," said UNT coach Johnny Jones, whose team opens the season Friday night at Southwest Missouri State. "He led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists [last season]. At the same time, he?s taken care of his school and is going to graduate in December with one of the highest GPAs on the team. And he?s done everything he?s supposed to in the community, and he continues to. He?s a model citizen and a model student-athlete."

Added forward Jermaine Green about Davis? preseason recognition: "I say it?s about time they got him on there. He?s been doing it for three years now. He deserves it."

The 6-5 Davis was a unanimous All-Sun Belt selection last season after leading the league in scoring (22.5 ppg) and ranking 10th in rebounds (6.4 rpg) and 13th in assists (2.6 apg). He was one of nine players in the country to lead his team in all three categories and the first to do so in the history of the program.

While Davis is best known for putting the ball in the basket, he?s most proud of his ability to do it all. Just don?t expect him to participate in the promotional aspect of his All-America campaign.

"I?ll let them handle all that," Davis said with his usual smile. "I?m just going to play ball. I?m just going to hoop. All that?s nice and I appreciate it, but I?m just going to help my team win."

For the first time in his college career, Davis experienced the sweet taste of team success last season. After winning a total of just 11 games the two previous years, UNT went 15-14.

The Mean Green?s improvement mirrored the progress of Davis? play. He significantly upgraded the statistics from his sophomore season in almost every category, with his shooting percentages taking the biggest jumps.

Winning was particularly satisfying to Davis, a Dallas Kimball product who admits he considered transferring after former coach Vic Trilli was fired. He decided, however, to wait until Trilli?s replacement was hired before fully considering his options. When the job went to Jones ? the candidate he was secretly pulling for ? there was no doubt that Davis was staying in Denton.

"I wanted to be loyal," Davis said. "I came here to help turn this program around. I was just hoping they brought somebody in that was a great coach, and they did."

While Davis is the epitome of unselfish, he is in reach of some significant personal goals. He enters the season needing 548 points ? 105 fewer than he had last season ? to surpass Kenneth Lyons as the school?s career scoring leader.

"I?d love to go out as the all-time leading scorer and have my name on top of the record book," he said. "I?d trade that in real quick to go to the NCAA tournament, though."

Davis also has his sights set on the NBA. Several scouts have stopped by the Super Pit recently to evaluate him, something Davis can hardly contain his excitement about.

"That?s all I?ve been thinking about since I was little," Davis said of playing professionally. "Now I?m one year away from having that opportunity. That?s something I can?t help thinking about."

Added Jones: "He sees the light at the end of the tunnel for himself. He understands and knows that if he has a great year and our team has a great year, he has a chance to play basketball for a long time after college."

First, however, Davis intends to have as much fun as possible his senior season. He?s worked hard to help get the program back on its feet and wants to savor every second of his time at UNT.

His main goal is to extend the Mean Green?s season into March. If he happens to receive All-America honors, that?d be a nice bonus.

In the meantime, he?s concentrating on continuing to improve instead of campaigning.

"I don?t have a slogan," Davis said, replying to some good-natured ribbing. "I?m just ready for Friday. It ain?t getting here fast enough."

TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-381-9572.