Davis couldn't stay away from the game

By Rex Kirts

Dee Davis, heading into his senior year, had planned a little rest and relaxation. That simply didn't work out.
The South point guard intended to skip the AAU spring season and "just be a kid." But he found out he didn't need so much down time, that there was enough free time even after a few games.
The kid and his basketball are seldom apart.
"I saw how much fun everybody was having," said Davis, whose moves on the court astound fans everywhere. "I had fun playing, playing with people that I didn't know. It was good."
After AAU Davis played with the South team that went to the national tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. Since then he works out about every other day.
"I've had a good break," he said.
A LOT OF WORKOUTS were with his father, Darwin Sr., Indiana University players and ex-IU player Armon Bassett.
"Playing against Armon makes me better," Davis said.
He also gets worked out by a former Ben Davis football player who has helped his explosion, agility, jumping and foot speed. Opponents will not be pleased to learn Davis is more explosive now. He was already exceptional there.
He has also spent in a lot of time trying to improve his 3-point shooting. "I did a lot better with the 3s this summer," he said. "Working on it gives you more confidence to shoot it."
A month playing with his Panther teammates was fun and productive.
"We did a lot better than people thought we would after losing Matt (Carlino) and the big man (Eric) Fromm," Davis said. "In Vegas we beat good teams by 30 or so. I think we'll be fine. We'll be a lot of team with our transition game. We'll wear them out."
A starter at North as a freshman and a two-year starter at South who won the MVP award in the state championship game as a sophomore, Davis said he's looking forward to "just competing" this season.
"A LOT OF PEOPLE are doubting us," he said. "I want to have fun and maybe make another run at the title. For how we looked in the summer I think we've got a pretty good shot. If we work hard enough."
The Panthers had a shot last year, too, but were shocked by Jeffersonville in the final game of the regional. They saw a 12-point lead get away in the fourth quarter.
"I haven't thought about that, really" Davis said. "You've got to move on from those things."
The loss to Jeffersonville snapped the Panthers' 49-game winning streak, one away from tying the longest streak in state history.
STATE FINALS MEMORIES
At Conseco Fieldhouse, Davis and his teammates waited to take the floor for the 2009 state championship game. And waited and waited. The class 3A game went three overtimes, so South and Fort Wayne Snider had to wait to play for the 4A championship.
"Everybody got so excited," Davis recalled. "We were watching (Plymouth's) Bruce Grimm, Jr., who scored about 40. That was funny."
Plymouth lost that game to Princeton, which became the 11th team in Indiana history to go undefeated. Two hours later, South became the 12th.
"I also remember coach Holmes getting on Jordy (Hulls) before the game because he stayed on the court and kept shooting."
AN IMPRESSIVE SIGHT was South fans, dressed in purple and stretching to the top of the fieldhouse.
"I've never seen so many purple shirts," Davis said. "They went all the way to the nose-bleeds."
Davis put on a great show. "I never got tired. I had too much energy."
Winning the MVP helped put him on the map, he said. "That told the college coaches I had a lot of upsides." Ain't that the truth!
OTHER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS include playing South his freshman year, "with Ray (McCallum) against Jordy and those guys. Even though we lost it was fun."
Also fun was last year when Nate Peck, who played sparingly, came off the bench to rain 3s and score 16 points.
And, naturally, there was the victory over Detroit Country Day his sophomore year when the Panthers and Country Day were ranked in the top five in the nation. The key play late in the game was Davis stripping the ball from the transferred McCallum and laying it in.
"I felt that game was more exciting than the state game," Davis said. "Leading up to it . . . I felt the bleachers shake, and I couldn't hear myself talk. It was great. I was loving it."
There's a whole year left to make more memories before he heads off to college at Xavier.

Turner couldn't stay away from basketball for long

By Rex Kirts

Spencer Turner walked into South's athletic office Friday and saw coach J.R. Holmes.
"I thought you were supposed to take off," Holmes said.
Holmes, of course, knew Turner wouldn't be without a basketball in his hands for long. The senior forward is as much of a gym rat as anyone.
"I was supposed to take off from August 1st till the start of school," Turner laughed. "That idn't last long. I took off till about the third. Then Joey Forney and I started lifting."
It was suggested that Turner needed a hobby besides basketball.
"I have one. But it's too hot to fish," he laughed again.
Turner laughs a lot. He has a good time no matter what he's doing.
LIFE IS EASIER now that he has accepted a scholarship offer from Belmont. Belmont is one of those pretty good basketball schools that nobody knows about, even though it's made the NCAA tournament three of the last five years as champion of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Belmont is located on the west side of Nashville, Tenn., a block from the more famous Vanderbilt and close to another rival, Lipscomb.
Turner is a 3-point shooting star but lacked the overall qualities the big-name colleges were looking for. He feels very fortunate that Belmont found him.
"Belmont saw me in a tourney in Orlando. I was playing really well," he said. "They said they need a shooter.
When I visited there (last week) it was the first time I'd seen the coach, Rick Byrd. He's been there 24 years and in coachng 33 years. He reminded me a lot of coach Holmes.
"HIS STYLE FITS ME so well, transition and fill the wings. I couldn't fit in any better."
Belmont has a fairly new basketball arena, Curb Event Center, that seats about 6,000. "Everything is all brand," Turner said.
Picking Belmont was not so much as giving up on an offer from bigger schools as it was the positives Belmont has. "The biggest thing was I totally fell in love with it," Turner said. "It's amazing, I think. I didn't want to pass up on a great school like this."
Belmont has 52 points coming back from last year. It has a 6-11 and a 6-10 center and a guard who averaged 14.9 points per game.
Now that his college is secure, Turner wants to give 100 per cent to his final year at South. He, Forney and Dee Davis are returning starters from the team that didn't lose until the final game of the regional. He was also a starter on the unbeaten state championship team his sophomore year.
"I'M REALLY FOCUSED on this season," Turner said. "It's great I committed early. Now I want to get bigger, stronger, faster.
"Everyone thinks we lost all our players, but we've got Dee and Forney. Desmond Marks is a 6-4 big body. And we've got Alex Forney and Ben Stowell back.
"I see us going 20-0. I'm not saying we will, but that should be our goal."
The Panthers had a good summer, finishing second in a state tournament to Hamilton Southeastern when they got in foul trouble and didn't have their whole team. And they played well in the Las Vegas national tourney.
"We played awesome at Vegas, really" Turner said. "We played well as a team. We beat teams with 6-9 and 6-10 kids."
But, Turner agreed, basketball is a team game, and South, under Holmes, plays excellent team ball.