WEST POINT — Wilma Davis watched, learned, and waited as a junior.
With a point guard like Kelsei Ewings, sometimes you only need to make sure you were running to get open looks at the basket.
But when the West Point High School standout point guard graduated following the 2010-11 season, Davis knew she was one of the players who had to raise her game to help the Lady Green Wave compete.
After some initial doubts early in the season, Davis flourished as a senior and showed she is ready to take her game to the next level.
Davis finalized those plans Thursday when she signed a scholarship to play basketball for Sharon Thompson at East Mississippi Community College.
“I knew my role was going to change (after Ewings graduated),” Davis said. “I always played on both ends, but I had to play more offense to take up the slack after she left. Some of the stuff I didn’t think I could accomplish, I accomplished. The support from my family and friends kept me going strong.”
David said taking on a bigger role was “easier” than she imagined. She said she was “hesitant” to do more than she was asked because she has never been asked to take that responsibility and Ewings was a team leader who was called on to do a lot for the team. Once she realized her team needed her to assume a bigger role, she knew she had to step her game up.
“I just had to find ways, not necessarily scoring, because there are a lot more things you can do on offense beside scoring and shooting,” Davis said. “A lot more came (with a bigger role) as the year went on.”
Davis said she grew each year as a player and is anxious to continue that progression at EMCC to help Thompson and the Lady Lions return to prominence. In 2010-11, EMCC went 15-10 and claimed their second regular-season division title in the past three years with a 9-3 league mark. Prior to this season, EMCC averaged 18 wins per year in the past three seasons, including an NJCAA tournament appearance and Region 23 championship in 2008-09.
EMCC slipped to 7-16 this past season. The Lady Lions will have to replace four sophomores, but Thompson is optimistic about the team’s chances to reverse its fortunes. She feels Davis is a versatile player who has the potential to earn playing time at guard and at forward to help the program rebound.
“I have been watching her since she was in ninth grade,” said Thompson, a former standout at Mississippi State University. “She is just so athletic. She is a great kid, too.”
Thompson was pleased Davis decided to stay close to home and eschew offers from other state junior colleges. The recent rule change that did way with protected lists for the state JUCOs means coaches are free to recruit the entire state. Thompson said she is taking advantage of that, but that schools in her district, which includes Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, and Noxubee counties, are her first priority.
“The thing she will have to work on is her outside game, facing up more,” Thompson said. “Right now, she is more of a slasher, cutter type of kid. She won’t have any problem adjusting. You saw her interview with the television station, so she won’t have a problem adjusting. The maturity is there. She is a great kid from a great family. Being as grounded as she is, she will transition smoothly.”
West Point High girls basketball coach Murray Woody agrees. In his first season, Woody watched Davis blend her skills with her teammates and lead the team in scoring at just over 15 points per game.
“I feel like her potential has just scratched the surface,” Woody said. “With her work ethic and two years in a good JUCO program, I think she can play DI. She is athletic enough, and I think this will get her basketball ability to the next level.”
Woody said Davis was a silent leader. He admitted it was a struggle to get Davis to be more aggressive and to be a bigger scorer. He said she embraced that role as the season progressed, especially down the stretch when she averaged more than 20 ppg. Davis had a game-high 17 points in a 56-52 victory against New Hope in the Class 5A, Region 2 tournament that helped push the Lady Green Wave into the North State tournament.
“As she started scoring more, she saw how it was easier to get her shot and she was looking to shoot more and to create for her teammates,” Woody said. “I think she saw she can be really good if she works hard.”
Davis is excited to take that next step. She feels she has matured from a player who was counted on to play defense and to rebound when Ewings was to engine that fueled the offense. Now, though, Davis is prepared to adjust to a bigger role on a bigger stage in hopes of one day taking another step and becoming an even more mature player.
That mind-set has come a long way from a year ago when Davis didn’t realize coaches were looking at her and considering her for a spot on their team.
“It is going to be great,” Davis said. “We have a lot of good things planned.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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