He starred at USC. Now he’s preaching patience in first year coaching York Prep
Larry Davis is back in familiar surroundings this week.
The former South Carolina basketball great is back in Columbia at Richland Northeast High School, about 10 miles from where he had a standout career for the Gamecocks.
Davis is in his first year as head coach at York Prep, which is taking part in the Chick-fil-A Classic. York Prep is playing two games in the Carolinas Challenge portion of the 17th annual tournament. York lost to Hartsville 74-55 on Wednesday and will play Lower Richland on Friday.
“It is great to get back to Columbia, seeing so many familiar faces where my college career pretty much took off,” Davis said.
It’s the third time Davis has been back in Columbia this month. York played at the Bojangles’ Bash at Ridge View and in the Hoopology event at Cardinal Newman.
On Wednesday night, Davis spent a little time talking with another former Gamecock, Jo Jo English, who is head coach of Richland Northeast and the host of the Classic.
Davis, who began his college career at North Carolina, played two seasons at USC and ended up in the school’s Hall of Fame. He scored 1,068 points, second most by a two-year player at USC, and averaged 16 points in helping the Gamecocks to the 1997 SEC championship.
After USC, Davis played overseas for seven seasons before getting into coaching. He is in his first season at York Prep after spending last season teaching and mentoring players in North and South Carolina.
Davis had a good relationship with York Prep athletic director Mike Drummond and thought it would be a good landing spot for him. York Prep is making the transition to playing in the S.C. High School League after playing as an independent.
“It is a lot of fun to be back on the sidelines. You have a chance to impact lives, teach guys the game that I love and that I am passionate about,” Davis said. “Hopefully you can impact them not only on the basketball court but also in life lessons as well.”
Davis led Lewisville to the 2013 Class A state championship before going on to coach at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, where he led the Trojans to the most wins in school history.
His rebuilding might take a little longer with his new team at York Prep, which is 4-7 on the season. The team has five sophomores and three freshmen on the roster. DJ Burns, one of the state’s top prospects, reclassified and enrolled at Tennessee over the summer. Derricko Williams moved back to North Carolina and signed with UNC Greensboro.
The only holdover from last year’s 25-win team is former Dutch Fork standout Deuce Dean, who went over 1,000 career points in the game against Hartsville.
“We are trying to pull those guys together and teach them the right way to play. Hopefully they will buy in and by their senior year we will have something special,” Davis said. “We’ve got a long way to go but got to remain patient and take it one day at a time. I’m patient but at the same time I am a competitor. Sometime I get lost in the fact that I have a really young team.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2018 at 4:00 PM.