The joy of basketball: Malik Davis on his journey to Davidson
After being overlooked for years as a junior, Malik Davis is ready to rise to his next challenge in the NCAA, and to have fun while doing it.
Malik Davis doesn’t look like your average underdog. At first glance, a young man standing at six-foot-five, with long arms and athleticism most could only dream of, is more of a basketball Goliath than a David.
Learn a little about his journey, though, and you’ll see a player that’s been underestimated for years. He grew up with dreams of playing professionally, and the pathway to get there is well established – star for your club, represent your state, and put yourself on the radar early. Instead, he was overlooked often, first missing selection for his club’s top-grade side as a youngster, then missing out on state team honours every year up until this past April.
Why was that the case? Looking back now, there’s an obvious reason that Davis is honest in recognising.
“Other guys were definitely better than me.”
Now, the 18-year-old is proof of just how quickly things can change. After finally breaking through and starring at this year’s Under-20 National Championships, a whirlwind recruitment has seen him commit to play for the Davidson Wildcats in the NCAA. In a matter of weeks he’ll be in North Carolina, playing at a high-profile school, following in the footsteps of his basketball idol, and on the path towards his ultimate goal of going pro.
It’s been a rapid rise, but it’s also deserved reward for a player that has been willing to outwork everyone along the way. “Being overlooked was probably just because of that lack of skill at that time compared to everyone else my age,” he said, “and that was ok, because it was something I could fix and get better at.”
Davis’ climb through the ranks, from fringe junior to DI commit, might seem sudden; in reality, it’s the result of a mountain of hard work over the years. That started with his junior club Geelong United, where he once missed selection in their top Under-14 side but continued to grow, even as he was overlooked for Victoria’s Under-16 and Under-18 state teams.
Credit: Lawrence Surgers | @pics.by.tre
It continued at Western Heights College, a government school in Geelong with a dedicated basketball program, designed to support talented athletes while they study. It’s that school environment that Davis credits with taking his game to the next level in recent years. Playing under Ash Arnott, the head coach of the Keilor Thunder men’s side and previously with Australia’s junior national teams, the daily training sessions and high-level competition fed his desire to improve. “That sort of group around me really supported me and helped me, and that was pretty big for my development and getting better,” he said.
“Yes, I was overlooked, but there were definitely people that saw that I could be great and took me in to build me up.”
Even with their support, there were challenges along the way. Most notable was a horror year in 2020, where the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was added to a foot injury that kept him sidelined for six months. Those already in the state pathways held their place among the chaos; those stuck on the outside had less and less opportunities to break in, with Davis’ injury pushing him even further back in the pecking order.
“It was definitely hard, mentally frustrating, seeing everyone else up above,” he said of that time. “A lot of people at that age would give up and quit… I thought, no, I’m going to stay true to it and not give up, play basketball and stick to it and just try to get better.”
That dedication has paid off in spades in the years since, with Davis going from strength to strength on the court. He led Western Heights to victory in the 2023 Basketball Victoria Champions Cup, breaking traditional power Rowville Secondary College’s stranglehold on the event in the process; he made his NBL1 debut for Geelong earlier this year, marking his first step into the semi-professional ranks; and he moved closer to a state team breakthrough, named as a National Championships emergency as a top-age Under-18 and a bottom-age Under-20 player.
That breakthrough finally came this year when he earned a call-up for Victoria Navy at January’s Under-20 National Championships. One year after watching the same tournament from afar, as an emergency for the Navy side that shocked the country to win a national title, he got his shot in Ballarat. “It was so fun, playing in a tournament that so many of my friends have played in before, and being able to be a part of it and playing on a team with probably my closest friends,” Davis said.
Given all of the work that it took him to get there, Davis was never going to let the opportunity slip. He dominated the tournament from start to finish, averaging 16.8 points to finish as a top-ten scorer, along with 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and one steal per game. In a win over the ACT, he exploded with one of the standout performances of the tournament, finishing with 34 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. After years spent watching from the sidelines, it was a release of all of his pent-up energy across one incredible week.
The eyes of the Aussie basketball world are always on the National Championships, and Davis certainly got their attention. News Corp ranked him eighth in their top players at the championships, and he was one of Michael Houben’s 14 standouts from the event. The timing couldn’t have been better, with his college recruitment ramping up and schools looking for more evidence that he could be their guy.
None of that crossed his mind, though; instead, it was all about that sense of fun, being on the court with his mates and doing what they love. “We thought back to why we actually play basketball, and it was for the love and the fun of the game, and that joy definitely is why I performed well,” he said of the tournament.
“I try to play with joy and fun whenever I play and that’s a mentality that not everyone has, everyone takes things really serious and overthinks things.”
“Our team mentality was thinking back to ourselves as kids and how proud we’d be of our accomplishments so far, and just play for them.”
Some colleges would have already had Davis on their radar, but the National Championships kicked his recruitment into overdrive. One of the many schools lighting up his phone was Davidson, with a catch – they wanted him to be a Wildcat but redshirt for a year, and sit out an entire season in the process. “I was completely honest with them and said I didn’t want to go somewhere where I was going to redshirt,” he said of that first call.
They stayed in contact, but when the time came to make a decision, Davis had settled on Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. At 9PM in Melbourne, he made the call and verbally committed to the Hatters; 12 hours later, though, things drastically changed. “The next morning at about 9AM I got a call from the Davidson coach again, and they said that they had a few guys transfer out and they wanted me,” Davis said.
It was a big call to wake up to, and with a tournament to play in Geelong that same day, it left him with plenty to think about. “Mum said ‘just don’t think about it, focus on playing, and then afterwards see what your heart says’,” Davis said, “and afterwards I just thought, yeah, I want to go to Davidson.”
It makes sense that his heart landed there, and not just because he’d be joining one of the top mid-majors in the country. After all, he has long idolised the most famous alumni in Wildcats history, who also happens to be one of the greatest hoopers of all time. As a kid, Davis would watch Steph Curry’s highlights from his time as a Wildcat, and then followed along as he lit up the NBA and won four titles with Golden State. He remembers being on the couch watching the famous “double bang” game winner against the Thunder in 2016 – “as soon as he made it I got up and started running around the room” – and he even wore Curry’s number 30 as a junior in Geelong.
All of a sudden, he’ll be side by side with his hero in less than a week, with the Wildcats heading to San Francisco for a training camp with the Warriors superstar. “Like, I get to train with Steph for four days – I think that’s going to be so surreal,” Davis said. “Even just being able to wear the Davidson jersey will just be surreal, thinking back to when I was a kid watching his highlights.”
Strangely enough, hitting the court with one of his hoops heroes won’t be a totally new experience. Growing up as a basketball-mad kid in Geelong, DeMarcus Gatlin was an ever-present figure, first starring with the Supercats in the SEABL, and now with United in the NBL1. Davis was eight years old when the star guard first came to town; now, they’ve shared the court together as equals. “Playing NBL1 here, I grew up idolising [Gatlin] and now he’s just another teammate… he used to coach me when I was younger, and now being on the same team is pretty cool,” he said.
Even still, Davis is allowing himself a little leeway once he gets to the Bay Area and meets Curry. “Off the court, I’ll definitely be like a fanboy a little bit,” he said with a laugh, “but as soon as we step between those lines, it’s straight to business mode.”
He knows he’ll need to be on his game from the moment he lands, with every second of training camp and the preseason a chance to impress a new group of coaches and teammates. Transfers might have opened up an active roster spot for him, but beyond that, there are no guarantees. “Every team with a sense of professionalism like Davidson, a team’s not going to promise you X amount of minutes or promise you a start, and that’s what I really like about it – everyone has an opportunity to show what you have,” he said.
As he has through his whole career, though, he’s staying grounded and ready for whatever comes his way. “If I get over there and for us to be a winning team I have to play two minutes a game, I’ll be ok with that because we’re a winning team, and if they need me to play 20 minutes a game, I can do that,” he said.
“I’ll make whatever sacrifices I need to and do what I have to to make sure we’re a winning team, and hopefully that’s one where I have a big impact on it and can play a bit.”
It’ll be a familiar feeling for Davis as he’s once again forced to earn his spot, but everything else will be brand new. It’s basketball on a different level – the fervour of college fans, crowds of over 5,000 at home and as many as 13,000 on the road in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and a murderer’s row of players chasing the same professional dream that he is.
It would be easy to get lost in the pressure of it all, but after years spent grinding just to get to this point, he knows that it all comes back to that one special thing. “I’m definitely not someone that’s going to change up who I am because of the people that I’m around, I’m still going to try and make training fun and have that joy,” he said.
“It’ll be really cool to just think back on that and remember that that’s why I play basketball, that joy.”