Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

UNLV football:

Four years after trying to get an offer from Houston, Davis returns as a Rebel

UNLV Football

Mikayla Whitmore

UNLV receiver Devante Davis caught six passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels’ 48-34 loss to Northern Illinois at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.

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Reminders of Devante Davis’ past will pop up all over the stands and field Saturday at Houston’s TDECU Stadium. If he’s not careful, that past might collide with his present in the form of Cougars senior linebacker and childhood friend Derrick Mathews.

“We talked the other day and I was like, ‘Man, look, if you come across the middle, I’m going to have to bring it to you,’ ” Mathews said. “We’re both competitors. If I get a chance, I’m going to bring it to him.”

Mathews was laughing when he said it, but he wasn’t joking. The Cougars (1-2) are coming off a tough loss to BYU, and they want to get back on track against UNLV (1-2) heading into a bye week. The teams kick off at 5:06 p.m. Las Vegas time on Saturday with the game streaming on ESPN3.

The trash talk has been going on since before this game was officially announced. At that time, Davis was back home in Houston, where he and Mathews grew up together since kindergarten. Their alma mater, North Shore High, is a half hour drive from Houston’s campus, and Davis got a sneak preview of the new stadium the Cougars debuted earlier this season.

If Davis got what he had wanted, he would have been on the field right next to Mathews for that and every other game the past three-plus seasons. Before he became one of the best receivers in UNLV history, Davis was just trying to get a scholarship to any place willing to offer him one. The team he tried the hardest to get to pay attention to him was his hometown Cougars.

“I really tried to get into there, but they didn’t have anything for me,” said Davis, who was mostly a tight end in high school.

Despite Davis’ size and athleticism, then-coach Kevin Sumlin, who’s now at Texas A&M, never gave Davis a shot.

“I don’t see why; he was good,” Mathews said. “… We were both trying to come to Houston. They just wouldn’t give him a chance.”

UNLV would eventually be Davis’ only football offer, but he had other options. Texas A&M was one of a few schools reaching out about a future in track and field, and those who watched him play basketball as a freshman and sophomore remain convinced that could have been Davis’ path, too.

“He could have played anything,” said North Shore jumps coach Reggie Williams.

As a junior, Davis won the state triple jump crown in Texas’ largest classification on his last leap. The next year, he tweaked his knee before regionals but was able to qualify for state again. Williams said Davis was literally limping into the state meet but wouldn’t admit that his swollen knee was injured.

“Still today he would never tell me he was hurt,” Williams said.

Click to enlarge photo

UNLV receiver Devante Davis stands next to a sign displaying his Texas state championship mark in the triple jump in 2011.

Davis completed all six of his jumps, once again needing the final attempt in order to take his second straight title with a leap of 51 feet, 3.75 inches. Even after witnessing him gut out those jumps, Williams was confident Davis’ track days were numbered.

“You could just tell,” Williams said. “Football was always No. 1 with him.”

That decision has worked out pretty well so far. He already has two 100-yard receiving games this season, giving him nine for his career, and on UNLV’s all-time lists he’s fourth in touchdown catches, fifth in receiving yards and sixth in receptions.

Davis is also on pace to graduate at the end of the fall semester after only three and a half years, becoming the first member of his immediate family to earn a diploma. More than anything else, that seemed to be the main reason Davis didn’t give much thought to transferring or moving on to the pros when UNLV was hit with its bowl ban this offseason.

“It’s going to be big for me to graduate college,” Davis said in July. “All of my family will definitely be excited. They’re already planning their tickets to come out for the ceremony.”

His family and friends will be even better represented at Saturday’s game. Davis said he’s already tapped 50 people for seats, but only because that’s all the tickets he could get his hands on. There will be more than that cheering him on against the Cougars.

In a way, the Academic Progress Rate ban was actually good for Davis. Without that months-long postseason ban, the Rebels wouldn’t have added this 13th game in his hometown. It also works out for the program, which will receive $400,000 for its participation.

Of course, the Rebels would like to get a win along with that payday. As a 21-point underdog, UNLV faces an uphill battle, although the Rebels certainly like their chances more with Davis as a Rebel than a Cougar.

“It turned out good for him,” Mathews said.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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