Davis Making Right Reads On, Off Court
10/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
For Montana State senior Mecklen Davis, an afternoon reading at Bozeman's Hawthorn Elementary School last spring proved to be a lot more than helpful to his girlfriend and her mother. It rekindled a passion present in his family for decades, it repaid a debt from his youth, and it may have started him down a path toward his eventual career.
"We went there last year to read, and last spring when we got out of season Bradi (said) a couple of kids had asked about me," Davis said of his girl friend, whose mother teaches at Hawthorn. "I had some free time, so I came in to teach PE for (his girlfriend's mother) one day. I kind of liked it, so I started doing it twice a week."
Davis is scheduled to earn his sociology degree from Montana State in a year, and spending time with school children sparked an interest that had previously been limited to academic settings. Those afternoons spent playing basketball with local third graders last spring brought Davis' classroom experiences learning about juvenile behavior and justice to life.
"I want to work with troubled youth," Davis says of his post-graduation plans. "Juvenile delinquents, inner-city youth, help with counseling or set up a boys school that helps them with life and going to college and not just (entering) the prison system."
While Davis' plans came into focus on the playgrounds of Bozeman, the impetus and passion behind the dream traces back to the streets of Los Angeles, and back a generation.
Gary Davis, Mecklen's father, grew up in Pomona, Calif., in the 1960s during at a time when gangs began to encroach on all areas of life in Los Angeles. A standout athlete, he enrolled Cal Poly as a walk-on football player and his career eventually earned him entry into the school's athletic Hall of Fame.
The elder Davis played in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins, who had drafted him in the sixth round of the 1976 NFL Draft, from 1976-79 as a running back for three teams that won or shared division titles. He finished his career with Tampa Bay and Cleveland, retiring in 1982.
Along the way, Davis became interested in helping inner-city youths, a pursuit which led to an affiliation with the Miami police department. "He wanted to make a difference," Mecklen Davis says of his father's desire to work with young people. "When he played for the Dolphins he was with the (Miami) police system and worked with one of the prisons there."
After his playing days ended, his passion for helping children stay on the right path led him to create a formal opportunity for such youngsters. In 1986, he founded a school geared toward aiding at-risk children, a school Mecklen even attended for a while. Gary Davis directed that effort until 1991. Sine then, he has dedicated himself to that field of work, including time with a non-profit organization affiliated with the California prison system.
Davis said following his father seems natural, almost a given. "My Dad has been trying to get (a school) started again, and he already has a program set up," Mecklen said of the program that uses sports in an attempt to keep children out of trouble. "He's getting older now so it's harder for him to keep doing that kind of stuff, but I'm a young man. He's already done all the work, pretty much, so I just need to find a way to get it implemented."
While Mecklen Davis shares his father's drive to help youngsters, his athletic career diverged from Gary's. "(Football) was my major sport in high school, but then some things went wrong and I ended up playing basketball. My Dad taught us that early, that just because he played football didn't mean I had to play football."
Turning to basketball in high school cost Mecklen years of development, time he's trying to make up for on the hardwood of Worthington Arena. "Basketball is more of a thing I'm learning every day," he said. "I learn a lot from Carlos (Taylor, classmate and teammate) because he plays all the time, he's played on club teams. I never really played on club teams because football was my number one sport. I just fell back on basketball because I had the ability to play it. I'm learning things every day from the coaches and the people out here. I'm more of a beginner in basketball."
While Davis may have left football behind, the game hasn't entirely left him. "That's why I play so physical," he says with a smile, "because of my football background. That's how my dad taught me how to play football, so I try to apply that here, just be physical without getting fouls."
With most of his time dedicated to basketball and academics, Davis said he misses he looks forward to returning to the playground after his season is over, and that his trips to Hawthorn stand as a good way to pay off an old debt from his days growing up in Atascadero, a small town near San Luis Obispo on California's central coast.
"When I was little, Cal Poly students used to come play with us every once in a while. I loved it because it was a challenge, and hopefully I can have the same affect on these kids."
If Davis has his way, his time positively affecting the lives of kids is only beginning.
"We went there last year to read, and last spring when we got out of season Bradi (said) a couple of kids had asked about me," Davis said of his girl friend, whose mother teaches at Hawthorn. "I had some free time, so I came in to teach PE for (his girlfriend's mother) one day. I kind of liked it, so I started doing it twice a week."
Davis is scheduled to earn his sociology degree from Montana State in a year, and spending time with school children sparked an interest that had previously been limited to academic settings. Those afternoons spent playing basketball with local third graders last spring brought Davis' classroom experiences learning about juvenile behavior and justice to life.
"I want to work with troubled youth," Davis says of his post-graduation plans. "Juvenile delinquents, inner-city youth, help with counseling or set up a boys school that helps them with life and going to college and not just (entering) the prison system."
While Davis' plans came into focus on the playgrounds of Bozeman, the impetus and passion behind the dream traces back to the streets of Los Angeles, and back a generation.
Gary Davis, Mecklen's father, grew up in Pomona, Calif., in the 1960s during at a time when gangs began to encroach on all areas of life in Los Angeles. A standout athlete, he enrolled Cal Poly as a walk-on football player and his career eventually earned him entry into the school's athletic Hall of Fame.
The elder Davis played in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins, who had drafted him in the sixth round of the 1976 NFL Draft, from 1976-79 as a running back for three teams that won or shared division titles. He finished his career with Tampa Bay and Cleveland, retiring in 1982.
Along the way, Davis became interested in helping inner-city youths, a pursuit which led to an affiliation with the Miami police department. "He wanted to make a difference," Mecklen Davis says of his father's desire to work with young people. "When he played for the Dolphins he was with the (Miami) police system and worked with one of the prisons there."
After his playing days ended, his passion for helping children stay on the right path led him to create a formal opportunity for such youngsters. In 1986, he founded a school geared toward aiding at-risk children, a school Mecklen even attended for a while. Gary Davis directed that effort until 1991. Sine then, he has dedicated himself to that field of work, including time with a non-profit organization affiliated with the California prison system.
Davis said following his father seems natural, almost a given. "My Dad has been trying to get (a school) started again, and he already has a program set up," Mecklen said of the program that uses sports in an attempt to keep children out of trouble. "He's getting older now so it's harder for him to keep doing that kind of stuff, but I'm a young man. He's already done all the work, pretty much, so I just need to find a way to get it implemented."
While Mecklen Davis shares his father's drive to help youngsters, his athletic career diverged from Gary's. "(Football) was my major sport in high school, but then some things went wrong and I ended up playing basketball. My Dad taught us that early, that just because he played football didn't mean I had to play football."
Turning to basketball in high school cost Mecklen years of development, time he's trying to make up for on the hardwood of Worthington Arena. "Basketball is more of a thing I'm learning every day," he said. "I learn a lot from Carlos (Taylor, classmate and teammate) because he plays all the time, he's played on club teams. I never really played on club teams because football was my number one sport. I just fell back on basketball because I had the ability to play it. I'm learning things every day from the coaches and the people out here. I'm more of a beginner in basketball."
While Davis may have left football behind, the game hasn't entirely left him. "That's why I play so physical," he says with a smile, "because of my football background. That's how my dad taught me how to play football, so I try to apply that here, just be physical without getting fouls."
With most of his time dedicated to basketball and academics, Davis said he misses he looks forward to returning to the playground after his season is over, and that his trips to Hawthorn stand as a good way to pay off an old debt from his days growing up in Atascadero, a small town near San Luis Obispo on California's central coast.
"When I was little, Cal Poly students used to come play with us every once in a while. I loved it because it was a challenge, and hopefully I can have the same affect on these kids."
If Davis has his way, his time positively affecting the lives of kids is only beginning.
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