Most family reunions take place in a house or restaurant, with food and drinks spread across the table and relatives catching up. For the Davis family, their reunion took place at the Pete Hanna Center.
In Samford men’s basketball’s season opener, junior Ty Davis started his first game as a Samford Bulldog. On the other side of the court was his freshman brother, Trey Davis, playing in the first college basketball game of his career.
“Me playing college basketball, him playing college basketball and being able to play against each other,” said Ty. “That’s not something that happens very often, so that’s such a cool opportunity for our family. We had a bunch of family come down for it.”
The matchup went Samford’s way, with the Bulldogs winning 87-58. Ty Davis started the game and scored eight points, while Trey got minutes off the bench.
The last time the two played basketball in Birmingham, they were teammates. They grew up in Mountain Brook, Alabama, where their father and Samford basketball alum, Tyler Davis, coached at Mountain Brook High School.
“My dad was the JV coach at Mountain Brook for a long time, for as long as I can remember,” Ty said. “I used to grow up going to his practices and then so I kind of started playing by myself.”
When Ty reached eighth grade, he was called up to junior varsity to play under his dad. The following year, both made the jump to varsity.
“I played for my dad for five years, which was a cool experience and an opportunity for me,” Ty said.
Trey joined his father and brother on the varsity team during his sophomore year, when the Spartans advanced to the state championship.
“Getting to play with him on the same team for a year was really cool,” Trey.
For Tyler, watching his two sons compete against each other at the collegiate level was a special moment.
“It was a very surreal moment to be able to watch both Ty and Trey play college basketball on the same stage vs each other,” he said.
“They have both worked extremely hard in the gym for a long time and it was a blessing to be able to watch them compete against each other.”
Despite some friendly trash talk leading up to the game, Ty has also been able to become a mentor as Trey enters the collegiate basketball world.
“He moved up there in (Berry College) August, and we talk multiple times a week,” Ty said. “We talk about, struggles that I went through, some adversity that I faced my freshman year.”
Ty spent his first two seasons at Crieghton, where he traveled to NCAA March Madness before coming home to play basketball at his parent’s alma mater in his hometown.
“This was one of the more proud moments since that season of coaching them both and raising them with my wife Ashley,” Tyler said. Most family reunions take place in a house or restaurant, with food and drinks spread across the table and relatives catching up. For the Davis family, their reunion took place at the Pete Hanna Center.
In Samford men’s basketball’s season opener, junior Ty Davis started his first game as a Samford Bulldog. On the other side of the court was his freshman brother, Trey Davis, playing in the first college basketball game of his career.
“Me playing college basketball, him playing college basketball and being able to play against each other,” said Ty. “That’s not something that happens very often, so that’s such a cool opportunity for our family. We had a bunch of family come down for it.”
The matchup went Samford’s way, with the Bulldogs winning 87-58. Ty Davis started the game and scored eight points, while Trey got minutes off the bench.
The last time the two played basketball in Birmingham, they were teammates. They grew up in Mountain Brook, Alabama, where their father and Samford basketball alum, Tyler Davis, coached at Mountain Brook High School.
“My dad was the JV coach at Mountain Brook for a long time, for as long as I can remember,” Ty said. “I used to grow up going to his practices and then so I kind of started playing by myself.”
When Ty reached eighth grade, he was called up to junior varsity to play under his dad. The following year, both made the jump to varsity.
“I played for my dad for five years, which was a cool experience and an opportunity for me,” Ty said.
Trey joined his father and brother on the varsity team during his sophomore year, when the Spartans advanced to the state championship.
“Getting to play with him on the same team for a year was really cool,” Trey.
For Tyler, watching his two sons compete against each other at the collegiate level was a special moment.
“It was a very surreal moment to be able to watch both Ty and Trey play college basketball on the same stage vs each other,” he said.
“They have both worked extremely hard in the gym for a long time and it was a blessing to be able to watch them compete against each other.”
Despite some friendly trash talk leading up to the game, Ty has also been able to become a mentor as Trey enters the collegiate basketball world.
“He moved up there in (Berry College) August, and we talk multiple times a week,” Ty said. “We talk about, struggles that I went through, some adversity that I faced my freshman year.”
Ty spent his first two seasons at Crieghton, where he traveled to NCAA March Madness before coming home to play basketball at his parent’s alma mater in his hometown.
“This was one of the more proud moments since that season of coaching them both and raising them with my wife Ashley,” Tyler said.
Sports Editor
Want the Crimson delivered to your inbox each week? Subscribe below!
