Coach Larry Davis and his twin sons at York Prep embark on one last SC playoff run
They’ve seen this shot so many times, they can probably reenact it.
Baseline out-of-bounds. 2.4 seconds left. York Prep is down two points to 2A powerhouse Gray Collegiate and has to go the length of the court to stay alive in the 2020-21 playoffs. Kory Davis gets a catch at the top of the key in his backcourt, takes a dribble left, then crosses over to get a decent look from just beyond halfcourt.
Most people would stop watching at this point in that video. Most people, too, wouldn’t still be calling that video up nearly a year after it was taken. They’d try to forget the shot that rimmed out and ended a season.
But most players aren’t Kendall and Kory Davis.
“I keep watching that shot versus Gray,” Kory told The Herald last week.
Said Kendall: “Just seeing it go off the rim just fuels the fire every time I step on the court.”
Perhaps it’s not surprising that the Davis seniors — identical twins — look to the past to find a competitor’s edge for the future. The York Prep boys basketball team, after all, is heading into the playoffs undefeated for the first time in program history later this week.
But there’s another motivational device that they — and their head coach and father, Larry Davis — try not to talk too much about.
They want their last playoff run together to last as long as possible.
“I try not to think about this (last run) like that,” Larry Davis told The Herald last week. “It’s been a journey for us since they picked the basketball up at 2 years old and they told me they wanted to play. … I’ve just been lucky to have them, and for us to have the opportunity to go on a run like we have is really special.”
York Prep trio: Kendall, Kory and Larry Davis
It’s not hyperbole to say Larry Davis is etched into South Carolina basketball lore.
He was a high-profile basketball recruit coming out of Denmark-Olar High School in the ‘90s. He averaged 44 points per game and was named Mr. Basketball during his senior season there. Davis went on to do big things at the college level, too: He played two seasons at North Carolina for legendary coach Dean Smith and was part of UNC’s national championship team in 1993. Then, after two years, he returned home and finished his career at USC, helping the Gamecocks go to their first SEC championship game in 1997.
He scored over 1,068 points as a Gamecock, second-most by a two-year player, and in 2017 was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame.
Davis has had other highs, too. He played seven years professionally overseas. As a coach, he won a state championship at Chester County’s Lewisville High School in 2013, brought historic success to Northwestern High School in Rock Hill and even got a few chances to be an assistant at Newberry College and James Madison University.
But even after considering all he’s done, everywhere he’s been, one of the biggest joys of his time around basketball has been watching his sons grow as their coach at York Prep, where he was hired in April 2018.
“Both of them have bits and pieces,” Larry Davis said, when asked if he sees a bit of himself in his sons. “Kory is more in his athleticism, his desire to be one of the best. He’s got a burning desire, which you don’t see in a lot of high school kids. Seeing it is one thing, but then doing the work is another. … He just lives basketball. That’s something that reminds me a lot of myself. I used to sneak in at a high school gym to get my reps in when a coach wasn’t around. It’s just one of those things.”
He continued: “Kendall is more of the thoughtful person. With his IQ of the game, he’s always thinking one play ahead. He wants to be in a situation where he is in control of the game. He plays the game with his mind, whereas Kory plays it with his body, his athleticism. And (Kendall) is very good at it. …
“I’m amazed at how well they play defense, how well they cut people off, move their feet, contest every shot, box out and rebound. It’s amazing that high school kids are able to do it at a high level every night. And to be able to witness it, it’s magical for me.”
York Prep is the team to beat in 2A
The coach/father and player/son dynamic is always an interesting one.
Among the Davis trio, it’s a mix of fun and rules: Kendall and Kory are high schoolers who love high school things, some of which Larry doesn’t fully understand but laughs about anyway. The two are quite active on TikTok, for example. (Larry will occasionally appear in his sons’ TikTok videos, the players said. One of the videos with all three of them in it has amassed 590 views.)
In return, they’re good students and respectful sons and incredibly hard-working basketball players.
That fun-rules balance seems to translate onto the court. York Prep plays incredibly fast. Loose. Fun. The Patriots are a guard-heavy team, and they full-court press most of the game. And yet there are “guidelines,” their coach says.
“The effort has to be there. The togetherness, the unselfishness has to be there,” Larry Davis said. “Coach (Dean) Smith has a quote that stays with me. ‘It’s amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.’ I used to write that out as a thought of the day, a thought of the week. When we don’t think about our personal goals, our personal accolades, we can do a whole lot together. And I think this team believes that.”
And it has worked.
The public charter school in Rock Hill hasn’t yet lost this year and has won in all kinds of ways against all kinds of teams.
The Patriots have won by large margins — hanging 100 points on opponents five times, four of which have come against region opponents.
They’ve also won by small margins. They beat 4A power Irmo thanks to a game-winning layup by Kory Davis as time expired. They beat basketball factory Legacy Early College out of Greenville by nine. They beat Morgantown, the No. 1 team in West Virginia at the time, by one.
Kory Davis leads the team in scoring, averaging 22.5 points, 3.8 assists and 3.6 steals a game. Kendall Davis averages 9.2 points and 3.1 steals a game, and also has taken 37 charges on the year (more than one a game). But the Davis brothers are not the beginning and end of this year’s squad: Starting point guard LaDarian McCree (14.5 ppg), 6-foot-8 forward Ji’meion Brown (9.8 ppg), DJ Barksdale (13.7 ppg), 6-foot-7 forward Brenton Elliot (8.8 ppg), Jevon Long (9.7 ppg) and others all help fuel the Patriots’ offense.
‘The end-line right now’
York Prep opens its 2022 playoff run on Thursday at 7 p.m. at home against Lee Central. A win would mean a matchup with the winner of Timberland and Marion.
It would also mean an extension of this final season.
“They see the end-line right now, and it’s a fun place to be,” Larry Davis said. “We see where we were last year, losing a game to Gray by two points, and to come back now and to have this run, this year, and to do it with this group of guys — it’s a lot of fun.”
Other area boys playoff basketball schedules
On Thursday, three 4A teams play: Lancaster hosts Westwood; Catawba Ridge travels to AC Flora; and Indian Land plays at Irmo. In 2A, York Prep hosts Lee Central and Andrew Jackson hosts Eau Claire. In 1A, Branchville travels to Great Falls and Calhoun Falls hosts Lewisville.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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