Davon Potts: Basketball or nothing

PBA Rookie Draft applicant Davon Potts remembers exactly when the basketball bug bit him. As a toddler in his mother’s living room in Chistar cago. He was mesmerized by the glowing images of powerful, graceful athletes he saw before him. He was literally drawn to the screen, towards the hometown team building its second three-peat.

“I was three years old. I remember that,” the San Beda guard told The STAR. “I remember just standing right in front of the TV, just watching everything. I have that memory that this is what I wanted to do. It was basketball or nothing. I loved the pace of the game. I was more intrigued by the competitiveness. I loved the way some of the players reacted when they would do some moves. I felt it, internally.”

Immersed in that passion, the little kid then went to the tiny plastic hoop in his room and started slamming away. He also had a hoop in front of the house and was shooting into it obsessively. At the time, Davon’s parents had divorced, and were taking turns raising him. The compromise was that he would spend a year with his mother Mary on the East Coast, then a year with his father Rick on the West. But basketball changed all that. Mary knew she wouldn’t be able to teach her son the game as well as her ex-husband could. She knew Davon had to go live with his Dad in Los Angeles.

At age 5, Davon started living with his father full-time, and they moved all over California: LA, Sacramento, Orange County, Lakewood. He would find basketball wherever he was, even playing for two AAU teams. Each helped his game evolve to where it needed to be. He started out as a shooter.

“Orange County taught me more of the fundamentals,” he explained. “But Lakewood taught me more of the aggressiveness. That was my transition from being a shooter to being able to do what I needed. At Lakewood, I had to learn to do these moves or else I’d get predictable. So it all sort of came together when I was 13.”

Potts had also been a long-distance runner, which helped greatly with his stride, breathing and pacing. He played tackle football in middle school but broke his wrist. At 13, basketball was it. He dreamt of UCLA and North Carolina, had a Tar Heels banner on his wall. North Carolina produced Michael Jordan, UCLA had such a rich history: Russell Westbrook, Jordan Farmar. All guards. All considered the best. With his jump shot, he was, in fact, even drawing comparisons to an up and coming Davidson College named Stephen Curry from his high school coach Bob Becker. Towards third year, Potts was averaging 27 points a game. The only problem was that Davon was not on social media. At all. He was known locally, but to college recruiters, he was a virtual unknown.

Despite that, Potts received offers from UC Davis, the Air Force and CalState Northridge, which he chose, on a full scholarship. With an accompanying income as a sports coordinator, life was looking good. But he had still not heard of the Philippines. That happened when he was 19, at a Fil-Am tournament in Washington, DC. He met Matthew Manotoc, who told him straight that he could play in the Philippines. He also had a conversation with his grandfather Apolinar Buendia of Rosario, Cavite, who left the Philippines during Martial Law and enlisted in the US Army. Buendia told him about the PBA.

“Is that the Professional Bowling Association?” Potts laughs at the memory. “How come I’d never heard of it?”

Looking up the Philippine Basketball Association online, Potts knew his lolo was right.

Four years ago, Potts joined an open tryout with San Beda in LA. Team manager Jude Roque told him that, if he could get a passport, he could come to the Philippines and play for the Red Lions. Eventually getting his Philippine passport and overcoming the initial resistance from his protective father and stepmother Carla, he took the leap of faith and got on a plane.

When he first arrived in Manila, what greeted him was a bare apartment with only a mattress on the floor. This was a little unnerving for the young guard, considering what he had given up. Potts jokes that he slept with one eye open, since there were cockroaches passing through his room at night. But having bounced around so much all his life early on also gave him strength to deal with being on his own. Of course, being the only Fil-Am on the Red Lions also had its challenges.

“Then (former) Coach Jamike (Jarin) told me he would have my back,” Potts revealed. “He said other coaches would make sure that their guys would get their playing time, but he promised he would give me a chance to show what I could do. That did it for me.”

Davon Potts has done everything asked of him at San Beda, and grew as a player in the PBA D-League. He’s been learning Filipino and studying the pro game. In a rookie draft heavy with bigs but lean on guards, he is going to make an impact, in a big way. With everything he has gone through to get this far, count on it.