Fooling with his future
By Brian Egeston
Sports Editor
be@brianwrites.com
 Dec. 10, 2008, on the Tucker Tiger practice field, four figures were illuminated in the darkness. The squad had just finished their last full practice before playing Marist in the AAAA state championship. Everyone headed to the locker room save the four. They were, head Coach Franklin Stephens, senior linebacker Jonathan Davis, his father Ty Davis and University of South Carolina assistant coach Ron Cooper. Ty had spent most of the practice helping to organize the tailgate festivities. He was noticeably anxious because he knew Cooper was en route to the practice with good news. Inside a four man huddle after practice, Stephens recalls what Cooper told them. “He basically said[to Jonathan], ‘Welcome to South Carolina,’” Stephens recalled.
After the meeting, Davis joined his teammates in the locker room, a wide grin across his face and acceleration in his stride. He was going to the University of South Carolina and play football for the legendary ball coach, Steve Spurrier—or so he thought.
Tucker went on to beat Marist and brought home the first football championship in the school’s 90-year history. Months later things began to unravel for Jonathan.
Stephens received a phone call the morning of Jan. 9 from Ty indicating USC was pulling their scholarship offer from his son. Later that day, Stephens had an “unpleasant conversation” with South Carolina assistant coach Shane Beamer.
Sunday night, Stephens called Spurrier who explained that the problem could have been avoided if USC coaches had been communicating better. “I told him the problem is this, when that kid committed to you, he came off the market,” said Stephens. “Schools were filling their positions and he was off the market for two months. “If I have a contract on my house and it falls through, I’ve lost 30 days of potential buyers. And that’s what’s happened to [Jonathan] he’s lost weeks and months of potential offers.”
Rumblings on Internet message boards began quickly attacking Jonathan’s character and grades. Anonymous posters labeled him as a selfish player with a bad attitude. There were however, anecdotal stories about his character that never made their way to the Web.
Rashaad Hunter, a Tucker middle school basketball player got into scuffle and was not allowed to play for a game. A few days later, Hunter answered his father’s cell phone and was shocked to hear Jonathan on the other end of the phone. According to Hunter’s father Travis, Jonathan called the boy, unprompted, after hearing of the trouble. According to Travis, his son got a stern lecture on responsibility, discipline and focus. He said Jonathan told the boy about how the mistakes he’d made in high shcool were now limiting his opportunities. Before the conversation ended, Jonathan told Rashaad the importance of academics and that he’d be visiting his school to check on him. The boy gave the phone back to his father. “He was in awe,” said Travis. “He kept talking about it for days later.”
Academically, Stephens said Davis is on track to qualify for a college scholarship. “When a coach leaves, all of sudden the other coaches are going to push for their kids,” said Stephens. “You never know what happens behind closed doors.The good Lord has a way of working things out.”
Spurrier not Banned
Media reports surfaced that Stephens banned Spurrier from recruiting at Tucker High School. "I never told Coach Spurrier or the other coach that they were not allowed at Tucker," said Stephens. "I said the University of South Carolina was not allowed to recruit here." Stephens clarified that Spurrier or any other coaches from USC would be allowed to recruit if they ever coached at another school.
|
