Everyone experiences a moment in life when they don’t get what they want. When that moment comes, there’s a simple choice — give up on it, or get up and take it.
Micah Davis chose the latter.
The Franklin guard had envisioned his junior season playing out a certain way, and it did not. So he spent the offseason making sure that his senior year didn’t end with the same disappointment.
“The ending of his junior year kind of fueled the whole thing,” Franklin coach Adrian Moss said. “We didn’t win sectional, he didn’t get county player of the year. It was kind of — not a waste of a year, because we learned, but he didn’t get what he wanted and we didn’t get what we wanted as a team, so I think that whole mentality of coming back senior year to get everything that he didn’t get before really helped him out.”
Indeed it did. Davis led the Grizzly Cubs to a Class 4A sectional title, their second in his three seasons, and he ranked among the state’s top scorers while garnering All-State honors. He is also the Daily Journal’s Player of the Year.
An All-County performer as a sophomore and a junior, Davis showed flashes of staggering potential but still had some room for physical and mental growth. He was named an Indiana Junior All-Star a year ago, having averaged 17.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists, but he knew there were holes in his game that still had to be filled.
As soon as last season was over, he started doing everything he could to fill them.
“He had a plan over the summer to work on his right hand and become a more consistent spot-up 3-point shooter, even get to the mid-range and start shooting a true jump shot,” Moss said of Davis. “He really took all of those things seriously. If you watch his film this year, a lot of mid-range, a lot of finishes going right, 35%-plus from the 3. He shot way more 3s and (was) way more efficient from 3, so I think he put in a lot of work.”
The results made that pretty obvious. Davis upped his 3-point percentage from 25 to 37, becoming a legitimate threat from outside. He got to the foul line more frequently. He became more consistent, scoring 20 points or more in all but five of Franklin’s games, and raised his average up to 25.1 points per game, fifth among all Indiana players and second in Class 4A.
He also dished out a career-high 4.3 assists, making opposing teammates pay for the double-teams and gimmick defenses.
“There were some games like that, but as a team I think we did a good job with the game plan,” Davis said. “If they did that, we have shooters around me, so it wasn’t really that hard, because if they helped (defensively) then I could just pass it and give it up.”
Getting Davis to give up the ball certainly seemed like the more palatable option, because he has become pretty hard to contain with the ball in his hands. A 53% shooter from the floor for the season, Davis poured in a career-high 43 points against Bloomington North in December and 40 more in a narrow win over Warren Central in February.
Having played his last game in a Grizzly Cub uniform, Davis will get to cap his high school experience with a little more action in June as a member of the Indiana All-Star team.
“It’s everyone’s dream,” Davis said days before being chosen. “Everyone talks about it. It’s a really good way to set it off, represent Franklin and represent Indiana. It would mean a lot.”
This summer, Davis will head southward to begin his collegiate career at Eastern Kentucky, a Division I squad coming off of a 17-win season. He’s hoping to follow in Moss’ shoes and one day play at the professional level.
Moss believes there’s no limit to what Davis can accomplish on the court.
“I think his ceiling is the NBA,” the coach said. “I think if he gets around the right people, he gets in the right system, he makes the right decisions — and obviously a lot of things have got to go your way as far as your body and being in the right place, but I think his ceiling is possibly one day being in the NBA.”
Whether the breaks go his way or not can’t be predicted yet, but Davis is doing what he can to control the controllables. He successfully accomplished most of what he set out to during his senior campaign, but he’s got bigger dreams in front of him and knows he has to keep getting better to reach them.
Davis made that pretty clear when he was asked what he most needs to work on this offseason.
“I think I need to improve on everything,” he said. “Everything needs to get better. It’s not perfect yet.”
There’s always something else to go get.
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
The All-County team for boys basketball:
Jazz Banwait, Whiteland senior: Named to the All-Mid-State Conference team after leading the Warriors in scoring with 15 points and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 41% from 3-point range … Also averaged 1.3 steals … An Academic All-State selection.
Max Booher, Greenwood Christian senior: An IBCA Senior Small School All-State pick … Averaged a team-high 19.3 points in leading the Cougars to their first-ever Class A regional championship … Shot 53% from the floor, including 46% on 3s, and hit 83% of his free throws.
Jalen Bundy, Center Grove senior: Averaged 10.8 points and 4.9 assists while running the point for Trojans, leading the way to a Class 4A semistate appearance … Had 38 steals and paced team in charges drawn … Earned IBCA All-State honorable mention.
Micah Davis, Franklin senior: Chosen as an IBCA Supreme 15 player after averaging an area-best 25.1 points per game as well as 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals … helped the Grizzly Cubs to a second Class 4A sectional championship in three years … Will play at Eastern Kentucky.
Joey Schmitz, Center Grove senior: Earned IBCA Senior Large School All-State recognition after leading the Trojans in scoring at 16.6 points per game … Hit a mind-boggling 83 of 152 3-point shots (54.6%) … Had a team-high 40 steals … Will play at Rose-Hulman next season.
Will Spellman, Center Grove senior: IBCA All-State honorable mention selection anchored the paint for the Class 4A regional champion Trojans, averaging 10 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds while blocking 38 shots … Shot 62.3% from the field overall.
Honorable mention
Peyton Byrd, Center Grove; Adam Crouch, Indian Creek; Ethan Edwards, Whiteland; Michael Ephraim, Center Grove; Benjamin Hommell, Greenwood; Landon Martin, Indian Creek; Wiatt McLaughlin, Whiteland; Carter Modlin, Indian Creek; Jake Mosemann, Greenwood; Kolt Nelson, Franklin; Wyatt Nickleson, Franklin; Isaac O’Neal, Greenwood; Connor Ramey, Edinburgh; Noah Reed, GCA; Landon Sichting, Indian Creek; Gavin Stubbe, Whiteland
