


"It's this thin air," Davis said. "When I was in California, it's like I was floating."

Davis, who is entering his junior year at Overland, can be forgiven for taking time to reacclimate. After all, he hasn't spent much time this summer in his home state of Colorado.




"First off, the food was gross," Davis said of his experience in Italy, a wide grin crawling across his face. "... But from a basketball standpoint, it was awesome. They just knew how to play. You were competing against talented dudes from all over the world."

For this country's cream-of-the-crop prospects, the road is always calling. There's a tournament to be played or a camp to show your skills, or learn new ones.

Loved ones understand that the dreams, of a college education, of a possible NBA career down the road, require sacrifices. But that understanding doesn't make it easy.

"It has been extremely hard for me this summer," said Terri Latson, Davis' mother. "He'll be gone for 11 days, home for two, then gone. I'm learning to adjust. It's hard, and I realize it's going to get busier for him. But he's out there doing what he has to do."


"They keep stacking up," Latson said. "It doesn't stop."

Even when Davis returns from an out-of-state tournament, where he and his Colorado Hawks AAU teammates will play as many as eight games in a three-day span, his work isn't done. The AAU culture comes with a heavy schedule of games — many televised nationally — in front of influential coaches. But the summer circuit is light on individual instruction.

Davis learned early on that just playing games isn't enough to improve. To take your game to another level, it's the work between the games that makes a difference.

Some connections to Billups


"The same dudes that taught him, taught me," Davis said.


But the invitation didn't come without a critique that changed the way Davis approached basketball.

"He was the first person to tell me that I was lazy," Davis said. "When you hear that from an NBA player, who has won a championship, that you're lazy — that changed my whole mind-set. That woke me up."


"We really try to individualize some workouts," Fisher said. "We do strength training and conditioning to keep his body where he's satisfied with it, because his confidence is really tied to his physical form."

What Davis can do with his 230-pound frame is special, a big reason he's one of the most sought-after recruits in state history. He can be overpowering inside, which is how he helped lead Overland to the state semifinals as a sophomore last season. But it's his long frame coupled with quick, nimble footwork, deft ball- handling skills and an already refined jump shot that has helped Davis stand out in a deep pool of 2016 national recruits.

"He'll do anything to win," Grant-Perry said. "One day we need him to score, and he'll do that. But if we need someone to run the offense, he'll run the offense. He can do all of that. He's very unselfish."

Offers began in eighth grade



"There are so many coaches trying to talk to you and get to know you," said Davis, who received his first official scholarship offer from Indiana when he was in the eighth grade. "You're on the phone all day. You will talk on the phone for 10 minutes, then off for two before you're on again."

For some recruits, the attention can be overwhelming.

"They always have to be on the hook for saying the right things, for doing the right things," Fisher said of high-level recruits. "It can take away so much of their innocence. It comes with the territory. ... But they're also fortunate to be doing what they're doing."

Davis insists he feels fortunate. He's affable, engaging and seems to enjoy the process. He might mockingly lament the bumps and bruises that come with playing dozens of games per month, but he believes that players who don't take time to enjoy the recruiting game are missing out.

"It's crazy, but you can't complain," said Davis, who has no timeline on making his college decision. "Most kids don't get a chance to do all this. I'm just enjoying it."

Nick Kosmider: 303-954-1516, or