by Dan Ninham, Contributing Writer
Houston Davis is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Davis is going to be a freshman this year at United Tribes Technical College and will be competing on the basketball team.
Davis’ basketball accomplishments include scoring 40 points, getting 16 rebounds and five assists in a single game as a junior. He was a 1000 point career scorer.
Davis is preparing to compete in college because it’s at a higher level. “I will practice and compete my hardest because the way you practice is the way you play,” said Davis.
“I am working on my speed and getting stronger. I also work on my defense too but in the game of basketball you have to put in the work to be great and to perform at a high level,” added Davis.
Houston’s brother Tristin Davis is his mentor. Houston said, “He pushes me all the time when we work out and play basketball. Sometimes we fight because we get so competitive when we’re playing basketball. He is a big role model to me and he went to UTTC his first two years of college and said he had a fun experience so I decided to go there too. I also know a lot of guys from UTTC so it made my decision easy.”
“A positive attribute that ‘Houie’ brings to practice is being vocal and pushing his teammates to get better,” said brother Tristan Davis. “’Houie’ has great size to give him an advantage both on the offensive and defensive side. He is also a very coachable player and fits in with anyone he plays with. I am looking forward to watching him play his first year at UTTC, and I know he will make a big impact right away.”
Lloyd Davis Jr. coaches JV basketball for Turtle Mountain Community HS and he is Houston’s dad and coach. “Houston started playing basketball when he was a kindergarten with his older brother Tristin Davis and older cousin Kenyon LaFountaine and they would play two against one. It would have been Houston taking on his brother and cousin and then I knew he was going to be a great player.”
Coach Davis started a traveling team for fifth graders. He said, “Houston was a third grader and he worked so hard that I noticed he was gifted basketball player. Houston loves basketball so much he works at it whenever he gets a chance.”
“When Houston was a freshman he played some JV and one game he made seven – three pointers and he started to shoot from deep like the hash marks,” added Coach Davis.
“Houston has a nickname ‘Houie’ and everyone that knows him calls him that,” said Coach Davis. “Houie has a very high IQ for the game and he makes it easy to coach him. He is very unselfish, he tries to make the game easier for his teammates.”
Photo: Jacob Laducer
