GREENSBORO — When Elijah Davis started his sophomore year in the fall at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia, it took a little longer than usual to move in.
Davis, a guard on the Hornets’ basketball team, made his mom and dad wait as he said hello to classmates and friends he hadn’t seen in a while. He was in no rush. At a small college that has around 2,600 students, there’s always a friend around every corner.
“He’s like the mayor on campus,” said Davis’ coach, Hilliary Scott. “Hubert and Leslie were patient enough during the move-in because they knew Elijah was just being Elijah.”
Hubert, by the way, is in his second year as the head coach of North Carolina’s men’s basketball program where all he did last season was guide the Tar Heels to the national championship game.
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On Wednesday night at Guilford College on Jack Jensen Court inside the Ragan-Brown Field House, the proud parents watched their son play against the Quakers in a typical Division III basketball game. The dimly lit arena seats about 2,500, but around 300 fans were there to watch Guilford beat Lynchburg 75-59 in a physical ODAC game.
If Elijah had decided to play at a Division I school and his parents were there and the game was on TV, it’s a good bet the cameras would have found Elijah’s parents during every media timeout or any time Elijah made a shot.
In this case, however, the anonymity of Division III allowed Hubert and Leslie to watch the game in peace.
“I love having them here, and it’s funny because when my family is at a game I usually play better,” Elijah said.
Elijah was coming off his career-best performance the previous game, a 91-82 loss to Bridgewater where he scored 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting while going an impressive 5 for 9 on 3-point attempts. His family wasn’t at the game, but he texted both parents right afterwards.
On Wednesday night, thanks mostly to a man-to-man defense that the Quakers used, Elijah didn’t have as many open looks. He did score eight points on 3 of 6 shooting with two rebounds, an assist and a steal as he played 29 minutes. He also had three turnovers, but on defense he did a solid job against the Quakers’ most physical player, 6-foot-5 and 230-pound senior Myles Washington.
Elijah, who is 6-foot-4 and about 200 pounds, is a lot like his father in that he’s a very good shooter who knows the game well. Hubert, who was born in Winston-Salem, played at North Carolina in the early 1990s and went on to have an outstanding NBA career and is still one of the top 3-pointer shooters in league history.
Elijah is averaging nine points a game and leads the Hornets in shooting at 50%, which is a far cry from last season where he only saw action in 10 games averaging just five minutes per game.
“I would say it’s just learning from the older guys has been a big help, and getting that experience last season helped,” Elijah said. “I learned the ropes a little bit last season to get my feet wet, and now this year I’ve kind of been able to make the jump to help. I know it’s been a tough season (4-11 overall), but I’m just seeing how I can grow more to help us win some games.”
Sticking with the Hornets
Scott, who is in his 15th season at Lynchburg, remembers vividly what happened in April 2021 when Roy Williams retired and Elijah’s dad was named the head coach. Hubert had been an assistant for the Tar Heels but was elevated after Williams retired with three national championships.
At that time, Elijah was finishing out his senior year at Jordan High School in Chapel Hill and had already committed to Lynchburg. He had some other offers and, because of his academics, had a chance to possibly play in the Ivy League.
The first thought that crept into Scott’s mind was maybe Elijah would be changing his mind and walking on to play for his father in Chapel Hill.
“His dad was named the head coach, and the first call I got was from Elijah and he said ‘absolutely’ I’m still coming to Lynchburg and it’s what I want to do,” Scott said.
Scott admitted as he has gotten to know Leslie and Hubert, he realizes now that he shouldn’t have worried.
“Elijah followed through on his commitment, and that says a lot about him and his family,” Scott said.
Scott said it’s easy to see the closeness of the Davis family because whenever Hubert’s schedule permits he’s at the Lynchburg games. Leslie is at almost every game.
“His family is just unbelievable,” Scott said. “I think that Elijah being a son of a coach, he knows what coaches go through and he understands. I don’t ever hear from his dad other than when he stops by to have lunch with his son or comes through town or maybe after games.”
Coming out of high school, Elijah had options and laughs when reminded that Williams was hoping that he would walk on to play for the Tar Heels. Elijah said that Coach Steve Joyner Sr. at Division II Johnson C. Smith also was giving him a good pitch to come play in Charlotte.
“Coach Williams was funny because he kept asking me and my dad ‘so what are Elijah’s plans?,” Elijah said.
Hubert’s father, who is Hubert Sr. and lives in Northern Virginia, played for the Golden Bulls in the 1960’s.
“That’s something I’ve always thought about, just to play with my best friend who is my dad,” Elijah said about considering going to North Carolina as a walk-on where he could have also played for the junior varsity team. “I mean, that would have been amazing, but I feel like God has me here for a reason and I feel like He’s showing me what I can do.”
Carving out his own path
Elijah doesn’t mind being a coach on the floor, and his energy level is something teammates and the Lynchburg coaches rave about.
After he hit a long 3-pointer early in the Guilford game to tie the game at 23, the Quakers called a timeout, and Elijah was pumped up as they went to the bench for the timeout. There weren’t enough of those moments, however, as the Hornets dropped their fifth game in a row.
Scott only had one senior in his starting lineup, and in the ODAC, where there are 13 schools, depth is hard to come by.
During one timeout after he was being replaced, Elijah made sure to let his teammate know about Washington. “He plays physical, so you have to match that,” Elijah said.
Elijah loves the process of trying to get better as a team and as an individual. He also loves the daily grind of school, basketball and the bus travel to conference games. There are no athletic scholarships at the Division III level, so the love of the game is a big draw.
“He just has wanted me to be my own person and make a name for myself,” Elijah said about his father. “To have a father like that means a lot because it was my decision and I really liked what Coach (Scott) was saying about the school and everything, so it’s been a perfect fit.”
The closeness of the family
Hubert preaches to all of his players at North Carolina about being a family, and that’s how it is in his family as well.
During pregame warmups, it was Leslie who casually went down to the layup line to get in a short conversation with her oldest son. She also got a quick hug and nobody seemed to notice while Hubert was up in the stands settling in to his seat.
Before the game started, Elijah looked up to his mom and dad and gave a thumbs-up.
After the game and after talking with a reporter, the Davis family got to meet up in a darkened parking lot before Elijah boarded the team bus for the drive back to Lynchburg.
With his father’s occupation, Elijah is well aware he can’t get to all of his games but loves when he does make it.
“When I can look up in the stands and give them a thumbs up, it means a lot,” Elijah said.
He doesn’t even need to ask for his father’s advice before a game.
“He just wants me to go play hard because he always tells me be grateful for the opportunity to play basketball because it is such a blessing,” Elijah said.
When reached by telephone on Thursday night, Hubert said what he loves the most is that Elijah is playing for all the right reasons. He loves the game, first of all, but his son also loves the process.
“It’s something we all love,” Hubert said about his father’s love of the game that was passed down to him and now passed down to Elijah,” Davis, the coach, said. “All three of us have been able to do something that we love, and it’s so cool because Elijah loves his teammates and he loves the University of Lynchburg.”
In a cool statistic in the Davis family, Hubert Sr. played at the Division II level, Hubert played at the Division I level and now Elijah is playing at the Division III level.
When Hubert and Leslie talk about their oldest being in college, it’s everything they had hoped it would be.
“He’s called it a mini Chapel Hill, and that’s about right,” Hubert said about his many visits to see Elijah at Lynchburg. “He loves the coaching staff, and it just checks all the boxes for us as parents, and that’s all you could really ask for. It just puts a smile on your face.”
Hubert doesn’t want the attention
When Hubert found out that a reporter wanted to do a story on his son’s play so far this season, Hubert didn’t want to be interviewed at the game. Instead, he was more than happy to talk by phone later in the week.
While Leslie and Hubert sat watching the game, only a couple of fans approached them way up in the bleachers. After the game, a few posed for pictures, and the Davis family was cordial about it. Hubert said whenever he goes to his children’s sporting events he’s there to be a father.
When Elijah was told that his father didn’t want to be interviewed at the game, Elijah wasn’t surprised.
“That’s him,” Elijah said. “He doesn’t want a spotlight. That’s been his entire thing because he just loves to sit in the corner and watch because he’s just a dad watching. It’s been that way the entire time I’ve played basketball.”
Maybe Hubert and Leslie will write a book one day about how parents should act as their children play sports, but Hubert is a little busy right now.
Elijah is the oldest of three. Younger sister Gracie and younger brother Micah also are good athletes, according to big brother.
“We’ve always been about family, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family’s support,” Elijah said.
Hubert said he and his wife try to make it to as many of their children’s sporting events as possible because they love seeing them happy.
“With Elijah and with his younger sister and younger brother, we go to Elijah’s brother’s soccer games or we go to his sister’s lacrosse games. Leslie and I are there to enjoy watching them do something they love,” Hubert said. “I’m not there to sign autographs or have a lot of conversations or take pictures. I just want to be a dad.”
Playing JV games last season
Hubert is obviously proud of how his son has progressed in his sophomore season but wanted it be known what Elijah did last season.
When Elijah wasn’t playing much at all, he decided to play on Lynchburg’s JV team to stay sharp and try to improve. It’s something that Elijah did on his own, which isn’t what a lot of kids would do in this day and age, according to the Hubert, who at age 52 calls himself old school.
“Things are very different now,” Hubert said. “Kids and parents, they want what they want, and they want it now. And the times are gone where patience or persistence of just working hard in earning your minutes and earning your time. I’m so proud of him … And he felt like the best thing for him was to play on the JV team. And he went up to the coach and asked if could he play on the JV team. How humbling and mature that was for him to do that, and it paid off because later in the season it earned him some time on the varsity.”
Being a teammate has benefits
Fellow sophomore Landon Sutton, who is from High Point and graduated from High Point Christian Academy, is a point guard for the Hornets. He says getting to know the Davis family has been a lot of fun, and he finds them down-to-earth people.
“He’s really a good guy, and he’s one of the best people on our team,” Sutton said of Elijah. “He’s always encouraging, and you can see he’s a coach’s son because he’s got those tendencies to say the right things that we need to hear.”
Sutton smiles when asked about reaping any benefits with tickets to North Carolina games. Lynchburg is a little over two hours from Chapel Hill, and Sutton said he and a few teammates went to a game last season at the Dean Smith Center.
“We also went to a football game and that was a lot of fun, so he’s really been generous about a lot of things and there’s just nothing about him that says he’s big time or any of that,” Sutton said.
When it comes to being around the team and seeing Hubert a lot when he comes on visits, that part has also been fun, Sutton said.
“It’s been a pleasure being around him and his family, and they are just great people,” Sutton said.
The whole experience at Lynchburg
Elijah selected business administration as his major and says he’s been “killing it” with his grades. Thanks to Scott and his parents’ prodding, schoolwork is a priority.
He’s also growing closer to Scott, who won his 200th career game last season and is in his 15th season with the Hornets.
Scott says there’s no doubt that Elijah has turned into a team leader and is getting better and better by the day.
“He brings so many positive vibes, and he’s always talking,” Scott said. “All the things you want kids to do he’s really doing those things, and as a coach’s son he brings a lot to the table. I love the fact he’s gotten so much better from last season, and it stems from his confidence.”
Elijah says there are so many more things he wants to learn as he continues his career as a college basketball player.
“Coach has really just become kind of a second father to me, and that relationship is way deeper than just basketball,” Elijah said. “It was built through the recruitment process, and then over the last year and a half it’s been perfect.”
Father and son competition is real
Elijah said when he was growing up he didn’t realize how much of an influence his father had on him in terms of basketball. He also didn’t realize how good his father was as a player until he started seeing YouTube clips.
Elijah said his father never pushed him into basketball, but eventually the tug was too much.
In fact, it should be noted that it was Elijah who decided he wanted to take basketball seriously at a young age. Hubert never pushed him into the sport.
“His best advice was to be my own person, and he always wanted me to sort of choose my own path,” Elijah said.
There’s also been some healthy competition between father and son in the driveway through the years.
So the question had to be asked: Who is the better shooter?
“Oh, it’s me,” Elijah said with a smile. Meanwhile, just a few feet away it was mom who shook her head. Elijah’s smile got a little wider.