'05 OH RB/DB Kendell Davis (Michigan State signee)

[Buckskin86]

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=17&ID=183621&r=10

Alliance’s Davis sidelined by freak shoulder injury
Thursday, September 23, 2004 By JOSH WEIR Repository sports writer
ALLIANCE — If you want to see Alliance High School’s Kendell Davis play football this year, it will have to be in the playoffs.

Davis, one of the area’s premier running backs and the defending Division II 100- and 200-meter dash track state champion, will miss at least six weeks with a broken shoulder, ending his regular season.

“If anybody can come back from this, it’s Kendell,” Alliance coach Ron Kuceyeski said. “Kendell is so even-keeled — not too high, not too low. He’s already started his lower- body conditioning.”

The injury occurred early in the second quarter of Alliance’s 21-20 win against Salem on Friday. Davis, who plays safety on defense, absorbed a violent hit when attempting to make a tackle. According to Kuceyeski, the play was nothing out of the ordinary for the 6-foot, 190-pound Davis.

The fracture is on his right shoulder blade, behind the armpit. The tip of the blade, a slight fragment, is completely broken off, said Kuceyeski.

Alliance Community Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Roger Palutsis, a Northwestern University graduate who serves as the Mount Union College football team’s surgeon, told Kuceyeski he has never seen anything like it.

Fortunately, there was no ligament or tendon damage, and surgery will not be necessary for Davis, who has 506 yards rushing and five touchdowns this year.

“It would be awfully nice to win six in a row and get into the playoffs for him,” said Kuceyeski.

 

[brutus2002]

Cimmitted to MSU. They are putting together a top 20 class.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Cimmitted to MSU. They are putting together a top 20 class.

Isnt it amazing that they can put together a great class with the players that tOSU and scUM don't want or can't get past admissions.

 

[brutus2002]

Crazy,

I think the margin of difference in talent in most cases is very low. We would have probably taken alot of these kids 20-30 years ago when schollie limits were alot higher. I agree John L. is cleaning up.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Well I am going to have to disagree with you. If there was not much margin of difference then MSU would regulary be towards the top in the big ten which they are not, b/c they would regulary be winning games over tOSU and scUM. Also we would just take these kids instead of worrying about oos kids.

 

[funman]

OSU and scUM tend to have bigger and stronger athletes who are just as fast as MSUs.

 

[CleveBucks]

Isnt it amazing that they can put together a great class with the players that tOSU and scUM don't want or can't get past admissions.

"great class" must be a relative term.

 

[osugrad21]

Canton Rep

[FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Alliance’s Davis back on scholarship at Michigan State[/FONT]
Friday, June 9, 2006 [FONT=Verdana,Times New Roman,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By JOSH WEIR[/FONT]

Kendell Davis had every reason to feel sorry for himself when he could not accept — through no fault of his own — a full-ride football scholarship to Michigan State last year.
Instead of sulking, the former Alliance High School star set his alarm for some 5:30 a.m. workouts, did the necessary work in the classroom and now finds himself reaping the dividends of perseverance.
Davis was recently put on scholarship by Michigan State, capping off a turbulent year for the soft-spoken speedster.
“We’re all extremely happy for him,” said Ron Kuceyeski, Davis’ former coach at Alliance. “Anybody that overcomes the hurdles he has deserves to be rewarded.”
Davis, who could not be reached for this story, was set to go to Michigan State on a football scholarship after a stellar senior year in 2004-05 that saw him rush for 1,404 yards and 12 touchdowns in the fall, then defend his track state titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes later that spring.
However, in late May 2005, it was revealed that an English class he took as a freshman at Alliance didn’t meet NCAA requirements. Even though Davis had done everything he was told by academic counselors, he suddenly found himself a non-qualifier.
He appealed to the NCAA Membership Committee, but he was turned down in late August, meaning that he could not participate in athletics or accept his scholarship.
So Davis packed his stuff and headed to East Lansing as a regular student, paying his own way.
He hit the books and the weight room hard. His grades are fine and he’s now over 200 pounds (on a 6-foot frame), up about 20 pounds from his Alliance playing days. He recently ran a 4.31 40-yard dash before spring practice, making him the second fastest player on the Spartans roster, said Kuceyeski.
Davis could use the team’s facilities, but not take part in practice. Part of his workout regimen was one-on-one sessions with Michigan State’s strength and conditioning coach at the eye-rubbing time of 5:30 a.m.
“He has a real strong desire to be successful at whatever he does,” said Kuceyeski, who stays in close contact with Davis. “It’s going to take a lot more than the NCAA to keep him back.”
Michigan State is projecting Davis as a kick returner and nickel back, said Kuceyeski, although he’ll get the chance to compete for a starting corner spot. Davis, who will be freshman eligibility-wise for football, will stay in East Lansing this summer and take some courses.