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Michael Davenport: Moving on up
by SAM WILSON
Photo courtesy of Moeller High School
Michael Davenport had to adjust during his first game in The Deveroes Summer Basketball League. The 2008 Moeller graduate played for Stan Litz Law Office until June 28, when he left to start his basketball career at St. Bonaventure. The Deveroes League meant facing stronger, more skilled players. It also meant more trash talk.
“With high school, you really don’t say anything because you’re friends with everybody,” Davenport said. “Sometimes when you play a game, you don’t want to embarrass your friend or anything. It’s kind of that little elementary type stuff. But here, everybody is out there competing. Once you get between those lines, you ain’t friends no more.”
Davenport is in his first season in The Deveroes League.
“It’s nice,” he said. “It gives me a chance to see how I really play with actual grown men, people who played at college and the NBDL and overseas.”
When Davenport goes to school, he will be enrolled in summer classes. He will also begin a weight-training regimen to put on weight the right way.
“That’s the real big thing that I’m looking forward to, is getting in the weight room,” he said. “They told me coming in that they were looking for me to gain twenty extra pounds. And I’ve done that, without playing basketball, eating a bunch of junk food. But, it’s going to be nice to get up there. They don’t want me to pump a lot of weight, but just do a lot of reps.”
The weight training will be critical for Davenport to earn playing time. The Bonnies will have nine juniors and seniors on the roster.
“They (the coaching staff) told me when I went up there that my position is there,” Davenport said. “I can’t just walk in and expect it, like they’re just going to hand it to me, like it’s going to be sitting right there. I know I’m going to have to work hard.”
Four years ago, he came into Moeller as the new guy. He finished his career with two seasons on the varsity team and an 86-5 record over four years.
“He came into Moeller, nobody really knew him and he struggled a lot,” former teammate Daniel Wulker said. “But once we all got to know him, he improved a lot. He worked really hard. He always had a smile on his face.”
Wulker, who will be a freshman at Christian Brothers University next season, won a state championship with Davenport their junior year.
“He can jump out of the gym,” Wulker said of Davenport. “He’s really explosive. If you lay off him, he’s going to shoot in your face. But if you get up on him, he can go by you. So you don’t really know how to guard him.”
Another former teammate, Troy Tabler, graduated from Moeller a year before Davenport and Wulker. Tabler now plays at Wright State University. In his freshman season, Tabler got the chance to play St. Bonaventure. He said its system would suit Davenport well.
“They looked like they wanted to run a lot,” Tabler said. “With his length and his athleticism, that just goes hand-in-hand with how they want to play.”
But Davenport said St. Bonaventure is a good fit for him beyond the basketball court.
“The school is not too big and it’s not too small, so it’s just right,” he said. “In the classroom, you get about 15 people in the class. So it’s like you know the teachers and the teachers know you on a first-name basis. So you can get to them. If you have a problem with class, you can talk to them right away, you don’t have to wait. And it beats being in an auditorium full of 300 kids, in a corner somewhere sleeping.”
