- Dr. Davis is a 6-foot-6 junior forward. He spent his first two years at Louisville, averaging 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 23 minutes per game.
- Tae is a 6-9 freshman winger who signed to Louisville.
- A month before the 2022-23 season opener, Dre is battling for a place in the starting lineup while Tae could be Seton Hall’s most impactful signing in recent years.
There was a stray ball at Seton Hall basketball practice. Dr. Davis went hard after that. Just like Tae Davis.
Big brother got it.
“I gave him a hard bump and he kind of flew out of the game,” Dre said of Tae. “It looked worse than it really was.”
Head coach Shaheen Holloway disagreed.
“He said, ‘Come on Dre, play smarter,'” Dre recounted. “You only did this because he’s your brother.”
To correct. In their first preseason at South Orange, the Davis brothers forced their way into Holloway’s good graces precisely because of their aggressiveness and competitiveness. Even if the coach has to master it from time to time, he sets the tone he wants.
“The way I coach is the way they play,” Holloway said. “They’re not afraid of hard work. I guess their dad did the same.
Their father, D’Andre Davis, trained them both at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis.
“Being a coach’s son, he trained you a little bit harder, never let me slack off, always held me accountable,” Dre said of his dad. “That’s what I’m used to. I’m used to someone always on top of me, tough and serious style of coaching.
Dr. Davis is a 6-foot-6 junior forward. He spent his first two years at Louisville, averaging 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 23 minutes per game. Tae is a 6-9 freshman winger who signed to Louisville.
Next, the brothers watched Holloway lead Saint Peter’s Cinderella all-time run to Big Dance’s Elite Eight.
“We watched games with our mom and she was like, ‘Man, I want you to play for this coach,'” Dre said.
A month before the 2022-23 season opener, Dre is battling for a spot in the starting lineup – “he has a tenacity that I like about him,” Holloway said – while Tae could become the rookie most impactful Pirates since Myles Powell in 2016-17 (see table below).
“He’s a lot more talented than me,” Dre said of Tae. “He can handle the ball and facilitate. Can go up and down the field and can jump – he can go up the rim as much as he wants.
Seton Hall lists Tae as a striker, but you’ll see him in a variety of roles this winter.
“I never stuck to one position,” he said.
Part of it is all those one-on-one battles with Dre in the backyard and at their dad’s gym. He couldn’t bulldoze Big Brother, so he’d find other ways.
“A lot of times it ended in fights,” Tae said.
That elbow in training?
“Not surprising at all,” Tae said.
Don’t get me wrong: these guys are close. They live together. They watch over each other. And they can’t help but see a bit of their father in Holloway, right down to Shaheen’s young son, Xavier, running around the training ground, as they once did during their father’s practices.
“He reminds me of us,” said Dre.
Can the Davis brothers help Holloway shape the program in his image? That’s the idea.
“Expect a team that is going to be hungry and outperform other teams,” Tae said. “I can’t wait for it to start.”
not so fresh
A look at Seton Hall’s top freshman contributors over the past six seasons. Can Tae Davis break the slide?
2016-17: Myles Powell 10.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 23.8 mins
2017-18: Myles Cale 4.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 17.2 mins
2018-19: Jared Rhoden 3.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 13.1 mins
2019-20: Tyrese Samuel 3.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 11.0 mins
2020-21: Jahari Long 1.0 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 6.9 mins
2021-22: Tyler Powell: 0.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 3.8 mins
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and college basketball since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 Voters. Contact him at [email protected].