Sparkle and Shine
January 11, 2007 09:27 AM | General
January 11, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Two years ago, West Virginia University sophomore guard Sparkle Davis was searching for a basketball home. Having completed her freshman season at Auburn, Davis was looking for a change of pace. It was the efforts of Coach Mike Carey and his staff that brought Davis from the plains of Auburn to the mountains of West Virginia.
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| Former Auburn transfer Sparkle Davis has found a home at West Virginia University.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“West Virginia was recruiting me from the jump, so once word got out that I was transferring, they were the first ones on me,” Davis said.
During the recruiting process, Davis talked frequently with West Virginia’s assistant coaches, but it wasn’t until she met Carey, his staff and her future teammates that Davis was sold on the idea of coming to Morgantown.
“The atmosphere, the team and Coach Carey were very straightforward,” Davis said. “I’m used to male coaches so having him in your face and yelling like he does, that’s good for me. When I met everyone and took it all in, I fell in love with the place.”
As many athletes learn, the love fest ends when practice begins. The Decatur, Ga., native admits there was a bit of a shock factor in making the transition from the practice regimen she was accustomed to at Auburn to the one Carey employs.
“My goodness, there was a huge difference,” Sparkle said. “The coaching style and the fast-paced practices were so different from what I was used to at Auburn. The way Coach Carey coaches at such a fast pace, I had to make a quick adjustment jumping right into it.”
Davis wasn’t the only one making adjustments. This season WVU welcomed eight newcomers to the fold: three freshmen and five transfers. As a result of so many new faces coming in to compete for playing time, Davis says this summer’s pick up games had a hard edge to them.
“Those pick up games were very intense and competitive because there were so many of us coming in,” Davis said. “A lot of us played the same position so everybody wanted a spot. Everybody wants minutes.”
As with any team, competition at each position pushes players to achieve their very best. You can’t let down for one minute because there is someone just as skilled behind you to take your place. Davis has seen evidence of that on this year’s Mountaineer squad.
“I think having people that really want to start or just want to get minutes will help us out a lot,” Davis said. “When people bring that intensity, the feeling that they want to start and that they should be starting, they bring that onto the court when they get in and they do big things.”
Davis says that when the season began, she was more worried about improving and seeing how she stacked up against Big East players than winning a spot in the staring lineup.
“I wasn’t really big on starting to begin with. I preferred coming off the bench because I just like to get a sense of what is going on and then see how I can help and contribute,” Davis said.
Getting a sense of what’s happening on the basketball floor has never been a problem for Davis. Her father J.D. was her AAU coach in high school and he instilled in her a very high basketball IQ.
“My intelligence and my eye for the game helps me. I try to look at a defense and take what they are giving and use it to my advantage,” Davis said.
Davis has taken advantage of her opponents often this year. In her first season with the Mountaineers, Davis has become a fixture in the starting lineup. She is fourth on the team in scoring averaging 8.8 points per game, and she has six double-figure games to her credit. She has also become one of the Mountaineers’ most feared outside shooting threats.
However, perimeter shooting hasn’t always been the strength of Davis’ game. In racking up 2,333 career points at Paideia High School, Davis was more likely to drive by an opponent than sink a 3 in their face.
“In high school I was never a 3-point shooter. That was never something I used to do,” Davis said. “I would shoot a 3 in the flow of the game but for the most part I was a slasher. My jump shot is my strength now, that’s what I do.”
That deadly jumper didn’t simply come about overnight. It was forged out of long nights and early mornings in the gym, working with her father and brother.
“I used to have to make 500 shots a day with my dad during the summer and he would have my brother out there rebounding,” Davis said. “Doing that since I first started playing basketball until now has made it natural for me to want to get in the gym and shoot. It feels weird to me if I am ever just sitting around doing nothing.”
With the upset of No. 24 DePaul on Tuesday fueling her fire, Davis expects that victory to lead to bigger things for the Mountaineers, now 9-7, 1-3.
“I have high expectations for this team. We knew we could do this from the beginning. We beat DePaul and we knew we could do it so my expectation has to be to try and win every game from here on out. I have always been that way,” she said.
Combine that positive attitude, with a diligent work ethic and vast knowledge of the game, and you have a player that can sparkle and shine throughout her Mountaineer career.
Briefly:
Saturday’s game will be televised by MSN and will air live on these stations: WVFX (Clarksburg), WJAL (Chambersburg, Pa.), WTAP/My 5 (Parkersburg) and Cox Sports TV (Providence).
FSN Pittsburgh, MASN and Sports Time Ohio will show the game on tape delay basis. Also, fans can watch the game live on the Internet through CSTV All Access.
