Atlanta – With a trip to the Final Four in the balance, Glen “Big Baby” Davis stroked the smooth jumper with conviction from the top of the key. His 3-point dagger gave LSU a seven-point overtime lead against Texas in the Atlanta Regional final last weekend.
Davis wasn’t going to allow the pressure of the moment to get to him, even if it was only his sixth 3-pointer of the season. Not after what he has been through.
“There’s a lot of motivation built up in my will and my heart,” the 6-foot-9, 310-pound sophomore said.
A native of Baton Rouge, La., Davis never experienced anything close to a traditional family until he moved in with Collis Temple just before entering high school. Temple is the father of Garrett Temple, Davis’ teammate at University High and now at LSU.
In 1971, Collis Temple became the first African-American to play basketball at LSU. But what was far more important to Big Baby was that Collis was a father figure.
“Dad helped Glen get ready for the ACT, helped him get into college,” Garrett said. “We are like brothers.”
Glen didn’t meet his paternal father, Donald Robertson, until his sophomore year of high school. At age 10, Big Baby spent time in a foster home with his two sisters while their mother, Tonya Davis, was incarcerated. A former high school star in basketball, track and softball and also a majorette, Tonya joined the dance team at Northwestern (La.) State. She appeared headed toward a promising modeling career in New Orleans when a drug addiction sent her life spiraling.
Nevertheless, Davis said his mother tops his list of role models.
“For the majority of her life, she’s been fighting demons,” Davis said. “She has gone through so much in her life you couldn’t even imagine. You couldn’t even dream up what she went through. She showed so much character and so much heart in the things she sacrificed for us.
“Through the midst of (her drug addition), she still had a love for her kids. She still supported us, no matter what she did.”
Sometimes Tonya was there. Sometimes she wasn’t. Somehow Glen persevered.
He earned his nickname at age 9 while playing pee-wee football. Because of his size, he was placed with older kids, who picked on him. When Glen complained, a coach told him to stop crying like a big baby.
Big Baby played football through his early years of high school as – get this – a tailback. He was a 275-pound battering ram with a 4.9 time in the 40. College football recruiters, projecting him as a defensive lineman or offensive tackle, told Big Baby that he could earn millions if he stayed with football.
But Davis preferred basketball and still stands to make millions once he turns pro. That could happen after the Final Four, with his NBA stock having skyrocketed the past two weeks.
“He’s a special player, a special person,” LSU coach John Brady said.
Basketball always came easy. Davis was named Louisiana’s “Mr. Basketball” after leading University High to the state title as a senior, when he averaged 26.4 points and 14.3 rebounds. He has quieted skeptics who didn’t think he could carry 310 pounds and be successful at the collegiate level. Earlier this month, Davis was named Southeastern Conference player of the year after averaging 18.6 points and 10 rebounds and leading the Tigers to the regular-season league title.
“My mother looks at what I’ve done as a blessing because I could be out somewhere doing bad things,” Davis said. “You would never catch me drinking or smoking, or anyone around me doing something like that. Her wrongs made us strong.”
Davis has never forgotten Tonya telling him: “Your mom will always disappoint you. But God will never disappoint you.”
“(My life) was like a maze; I was lucky to make the right turn at the right time,” he said. “At first, I was headed down paths that were not good, where you’re either dead or you’re in jail.
“I decided to make the right turn at the right time because of what I wanted. All my life, I’d felt hurt and pain. Growing up with Garrett Temple and his father, that’s the kind of life I wanted.”
Davis has quick feet and a quicker wit. His outgoing personality has captivated fans and television viewers during the tournament, a trait he figures must have come from his mom, who loved the spotlight.
“Talking to people and having fun keeps me loose,” Davis said. “I try not to take things so seriously. I do approach things in a serious way, but I try to absorb things around me. I try to live in the moment. When I go somewhere special, I try to leave there with something I’ll always remember.”
Davis can’t wait for LSU’s first trip to the Final Four since 1986. It will give him an opportunity to “put my imprint on immortality,” as he put it.
“To be a part of something that is going to live forever, that makes you feel so good,” he said.
This much is certain: Davis will smile his way through the experience.
“I’m glad I didn’t hold any of that bad stuff in,” Davis said of the challenges he faced while growing up. “I think that’s why I’m the person I am today, because I didn’t mind crying. Or getting mad and letting my frustration out.
“I’m so open about it because I want everybody to hear my story. I want the kids in my neighborhood to think there is a way out. There is another way to the road to success.
“That’s why I want everybody to have a positive image of Glen Davis.”
That’s bound to be a slam dunk.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
