Stephen Davis Jr. alters recruiting approach after knee injury
Athlete Stephen Davis Jr. of Dutch Fork High faces the first big step in his comeback from a torn ACL and torn MCL on Oct. 21.
That’s when he has surgery by Dr. Wendell Holmes of the Moore Orthopedic Clinic in Columbia. There will be months of rehab and, he hopes, a full recovery. Davis suffered the injury in the third game of the season when, while playing running back, he planted and was hit on the knee.
“I wasn’t expecting it to happen in my senior year,” Davis said of the season-ending injury. “I’m dealing with it pretty good. I’m just upset that I can’t play right now with my team and help my team out. It happened and I’m just trying to get through it and just praying. I just miss it a lot.”
The injury has kept Davis from being active with his recruiting other than talking to coaches on the phone and through social media. He’s not been able to make it to any games. He actually had planned to go to South Carolina this Saturday, but the game vs. LSU has been moved to Baton Rouge, La.
And he doesn’t think he will head up to Clemson for the Georgia Tech game.
Davis hasn’t scheduled any official visits, but he’s been looking at USC, Clemson, LSU and Florida State for four of them. He’s also still hearing from Auburn, the school he was committed to until Sept. 6.
“Right now I’m just looking for the school that gives me the most interest while I’m having my knee surgery and all that,” he said. “Right now I’m just looking to see who likes me more while I’m having the knee surgery. I’ve been hearing a lot from South Carolina. They’ve been checking up on me. I’ve been hearing a lot from Auburn. They’ve been checking up on me. UCLA checked up on me the other day. Clemson checked up on me the other day, too.”
Davis said he won’t make a decision for a while because of his situation with the knee. At this point, two from his top group may have a slight edge over the rest.
“If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be Clemson and Auburn,” Davis said. “I just like the schools.”