The first basketball game Bowman Academy star Koron Davis ever attended was his cousin’s high school game. As a little kid, Davis watched from the bleachers in awe, studied each dribble move with curiosity, and revered his cousin with vigorous passion. To Davis, his cousin was the quintessential role model, someone he looked up to.

But when Davis looks up into the stands this season, his cousin won’t be sitting in the bleachers reciprocating those cheers. He never got the chance to as he suddenly passed away prior to Davis’ senior season.

“What pushed me the hardest was my cousin died,” Davis said. “And then I had three losses in my family, which basically pushed me to go harder.”

Amid the grief and heartbreak, Davis has found inspiration on the hardwood this season. With each dunk or three-pointer, rebound or steal, assist or layup, Davis is playing for more than just himself now. And in many ways, it’s lit a fire that Davis never knew he needed.

In 18 contests this season, Davis’s 24.5 points per game ranks 15th among all IHSAA boys’ basketball players. Factor in career-high’s of 7.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and the 6-foot-5 captain has quietly become one of the most intriguing players in the state.

It’s a testament to a lesson Davis learned long before he became Bowman Academy’s undisputed leader. 

“Being patient and waiting my turn,” Davis said. “That’s stuck with me the most I think more than anything else.”

But patience, as they say, is a virtue. Something that’s nearly impossible to learn without experiencing the flipside that is eagerness and innocence. 

And for Davis, he didn’t come to fully understand patience until his sophomore season when he debuted on the Eagles’ varsity team. When, for the first time in his young career, he wasn’t the star player and it wasn’t his turn in the pecking order just yet. Instead, those roles belonged to then-seniors Amari Sherrod (12.6 points per game) and Tarik Booker (14.9 points per game).

So Davis waited his turn, doing whatever was asked of him. Head coach Tyrone Robinson needed a spot-up shooter? Davis responded by shooting 42 percent from three-point range including a 23-of-39 barrage to close out his sophomore season.

“As a sophomore, I always had it,” he said. “I was always telling my coach, ‘I’m just waiting for my time.’”

In 2019, Davis didn’t have to wait any longer as a junior-- it was his time. And he proved it by averaging 22.9 points per game, leading Bowman Academy to a 15-8 record and propelling his team to a sectional title before the COVID-19 pandemic squashed the IHSAA tournament entirely.

Rather than sulk and feel sorry for himself, though, Davis chose to be patient, reflecting on what went well and what he needed to improve upon for his next chance at a sectional title.. Adding strength and size topped his list of priorities.

But then came the state-mandated closure of fitness centers and basketball courts, followed by his cousin’s death, and, to top it off, uncertainty that the 2020-21 season might not even be played. 

All at once, it seemed like an avalanche of bad news was ready to topple Davis over. 

However, in those moments of doubt for Davis, he continues to remembers on what got him to today.

He remembers the first basketball game he ever attended. He remembers the first basketball game he played in at six-years-old. And he remembers the lessons that only basketball could teach him.

“I’ve been surrounded by this sport my whole life,” Davis said. “I don’t know where I’d be without basketball.”

*Koron Davis won Indiana Basketball Source's player of the week for January 25-30, 2021