Kendric Davis’ high school coach keeps the TV on. He has not missed his former player’s coming-out parties for TCU.
Four years ago, he had a front-row seat to the same thing.
“Y’all are just seeing the start of Kendric Davis,” said Ralph Barreras, the basketball coach at Houston’s Sam Houston Math, Science and Technical Center High School. “From Day 1, he made plays for us.”
The Horned Frogs don’t doubt it.
In his first college game with TCU, Davis coolly made four free throws late in a close contest. In his fourth outing, he scored 14 points. In his sixth, it was six assists.
In his second Big 12 game, at Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas, he played 22 minutes and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Getting the picture?
Last weekend at Iowa State, in TCU’s first victory against a ranked team on the road in more than 20 years, the freshman guard poured in a career-high 22 points in 29 minutes. Monday night at home against Kansas came more career highs — seven assists, seven free throws, 36 minutes, all off the bench.
The 5-foot-11 freshman guard has yet to start a game, but the Frogs are giving him more and more to do. His personal 7-0 run erased a 26-20 deficit against Kansas in the first half on Monday night. In the game’s final minutes, it was Davis handling the ball. Against Kansas — repeat: Kansas — he led TCU in assists for the first time.
Told ya, Barreras said.
“A game is never going to be too big for him,” his former coach said. “He always played his best when we played our biggest games. He was three-time all-state for us. I think we were 128-18 in the four years that he was here. His basketball IQ is off the charts.”
More and more TCU is taking advantage of it. The newcomer’s trustworthy play means a break for senior point guard Alex Robinson, the Big 12 assists leader who has been carrying a heavy load since the mid-season departure of Jaylen Fisher.
“He’s helping me a lot. We were talking about it earlier,” Robinson said. “They have to pick and choose who they’re going to guard. His penetration helps everybody, honestly. It makes it easier for guys to be able to penetrate off of him, off of closeouts. Having another guy out there driving and kicking, it helps a lot.”
Davis’ emergence has been critical for a TCU team trying to make a second-half push in league play. His scoring means another offensive option for the undermanned Frogs, and his defense makes him valuable on that end of the court, as well.
“He’s a freshman, and you hope your freshmen get better,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Especially since we’ve got five of them — five out of nine that are playing minutes. He’s aggressive. He’s confident and getting better defensively and shooting it better. He’s developed a jump shot. We told him he’s kind of got to get to a point here in college where you’ve got to take a jump shot. He’s a threat to shoot the ball and to drive it.”
TCU is reaping the benefits of recruiting Davis early. The four-star recruit committed as a sophomore to the Frogs and didn’t waver, despite a corresponding push from Kansas State and late interest from other teams, including his dream school.
“From the time he was a young kid, he wanted to play at Texas,” Barreras said. “But Texas didn’t pay much attention to him. When Texas decided to come around a little bit, he told me, ‘No, coach, that’s OK. I’m just going to prove to them that they should have recruited me from the get-go.’ He left that alone. He stuck to his guns and stayed with TCU.”
It wasn’t the first time Davis showed loyalty. He also stuck with his high school team and his coach, despite chances to play prep basketball elsewhere.
“In Houston high school basketball, it’s kind of a dog-eat-dog world where people try to get your best players,” Barreras said. “He could have gone anywhere he wanted, not just in Houston, but anywhere in the country, really. But he stayed at our place, played here for four years. I coached him hard, I was pretty tough on them, and I didn’t sugarcoat anything for them. He could have left when things got tough, but he stuck it out.”
Davis’ resolve shows. It powers his drives to the bucket when everyone on the court is bigger. It fuels his confidence to take the last shot. Handling the ball on the final possession becomes no big deal.
“He’s grown up a lot,” Robinson said. “He’s always in the gym. He’s going to be better and better. I only expect him to get better as the games keep going.”