The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hoops are ingrained in Bengals guard’s DNA
Davin Zeigler’s basketball prowess is unique among his peers.
Zeigler is a 6-foot guard committed to Bowling Green. The Benedictine senior led the Bengals in many statistical categories during the regular season. He helped them roll through the Stow District and leads Benedictine into a Division II Canton Regional final against Villa AngelaSt. Joseph on March 13.
Within the Zeigler family, though, Davin’s skill isn’t out of the ordinary.
Zeigler’s basketball heritage traces back to his great-grandfather, Vertis, who was a Harlem Globetrotter in the 1940s.
Davin’s father, Derrick, played at Cody High School in Detroit, before he played in 104 games over four years on Cleveland State’s basketball team in the 1990s. After graduation, Derrick played overseas and was drafted by the Roanoke Dazzle in the 2002 NBA Development League Draft. Derrick served as an assistant to current Benedictine coach, Rob Stircula, during his first stint at Benedictine and is back with the Bengals after he was the head coach at Orange for three years.
Davin’s sister, Darryn, was ranked a three-star player in the Class of 2018 out of Shaker Heights before a knee injury resulted in her taking a year at Moberly Junior College. She will likely end up at a Division I program. His younger brother, Dylan, is a teammate of Stircula’s son, Carter, on their fourthgrade AAU team and due up next in the family’s line of basketball standouts.
Derrick’s brother, Ernie, served as the head coach at Central Michigan for six seasons and is currently an assistant to Ben Howland at Mississippi State. Ernie’s son, Trey, played for his father alongside Benedictine alumnus Derek Jackson for two years. When his father left Central Michigan, Trey — Davin’s cousin — transferred to Pitt where he teamed up with another Benedictine alum in the Bengals’ alltime leading scorer, Cameron Wright. Trey Zeigler finished his career at Texas Christian and now players overseas with CSO Voluntari in Romania’s National League.
Another Zeigler cousin, Bo, played at South Florida before he spent the 2017-18 season at George Washington as a graduate transfer. Omar Zeigler is a currently a sophomore at Detroit’s Martin Luther King High School, who he helped lead to a regional championship this spring.
Between the talent and experience coursing through the Zeigler family’s basketball bloodline, Davin has access to whatever resource he needs in his own journey through the sport.
“It’s a blessing,” Davin Zeigler said. “If I don’t know something, I can just turn to my left and I know somebody can just tell me something I need to know about basketball. I have a whole bunch of pieces around me to help me get where I want to go.”
The eminent debate in the Zeigler household isn’t just who’s the best player, but who has the most bounce. Davin Zeigler is arguably the area’s top dunker and his vertical leap was measured at 38-0 1/2 inches during a combine at St. Vincent-St. Mary last summer. He also holds the honor of being the best shooter in the family, and Derrick relents on each account — with a caveat to Davin’s acrobatic prowess. Derrick could dunk by jumping off one leg or two, while Davin primarily dunks by jumping off two legs.
Davin’s method of taking off is just a matter of preference. He also points out his father, taller than him at 6-foot-5, had the benefit of added height and a longer wing span.
“I can jump off one leg,” Davin said, “I just choose not to. Nobody knows I can jump off one foot.”
Jumping one foot or two, Zeigler is a sure bet to punish the rim at least once in every game. His most memorable dunk, so far, was one that came in a scrimmage against a team from Michigan at Cleveland State last summer because it was the first time he dunked over someone who dared to challenge him.
“That was my favorite one,” Zeigler said. “I just sized my dude up, I got by him, help-side stepped up, I just took off with one hand and I dunked it.”
For all the advantages Zeigler’s lineage provides, he hasn’t relied on his inherent ability. Zeigler averaged almost 21 points per game this year alongside six rebounds, 4.5 assists, two steals and a block per game. He’s maintained his scoring average through Benedictine’s three playoff games, but his assists have ticked up to eight per game.
The Bengals have won their three tournament games by nearly 30 points per game on average.
“Dav’s one of the hardest workers, if not the hardest worker I’ve had here,” Stircula said. “He’s in here two, three days a week, 6:30, 6:45 getting shots up, and Cam’s up here working with him.”
Wright has essentially become a member of the Zeigler family, too, as Davin refers to the 2010 Benedictine graduate as an older brother. He spent five years at Pitt, where he won the 2014 Skip Prosser Award as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top student-athlete.
Wright returned to the Cleveland area after graduation and was an assistant on Stircula’s staff last year. While he advances his own career in sports management, Wright has also continued to train Zeigler and other Bengals. His mentorship is particularly valuable in preparing Zeigler for what he’ll face as a student-athlete at the college level.
“He always tells me, ‘We’re not at Benedictine. We’re at Bowling Green right now,’ “Davin said. “So, just how to carry myself and play with pace, not be going 100 miles an hour all the time, that’s what he’s helped me out with. And stuff off the court, being responsible, taking care of my business, knowing what to do, just how to handle myself.”
Derrick Zeigler first realized his son was a D-I talent while he was still coaching at Orange, near the end of Davin’s sophomore year. The Bengals and Lions met in the playoffs and Benedictine eliminated Orange, as Derrick’s team was short three starters. He rejoined Stircula at Benedictine the following season and has watched his son develop up close.
After Davin broke out in his sophomore season, he gained confidence in his ability as he began to hear from voices at the collegiate level.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I could really do something,’ “Zeigler said. “College coaches were contacting me and I got on the AAU circuit, I picked up my first two offers and since then it just took off. That’s when I knew I could actually do something.”
Derrick’s focus in preparing his son for the next level centered on skill development but, more important, his mental ability and leadership. As a senior, Davin’s leadership is counted on by his teammates. His father’s encouraged him to lead not so much through his words, but with his actions.
When Zeigler’s teammates see him putting shots up before school in the morning and bringing consistent, high energy in practice, it fosters credibility through an example.
As for Zeigler’s own game, Derrick has encouraged him to base his confidence in-game on the extensive work he’s done in practice, with Wright or on his own.
“I say to him all the time, ‘Trust yourself,’ “Zeigler said. “Trust what you do. You put the work in, you’re prepared. You put tons of hours in, you’re in the weight room, in the gym, trust yourself. You have no reason to not be confident when you prepare all the time.”
As a father, Zeigler is also conscious of the rare opportunity he has to watch his son’s development.
“I’m happy for him,” Derrick said, “I know how much work this kid puts in, how much he’s devoted to the game. I’m just excited. I’ve got a front-row seat. For me, I’m kind of cheating. I get a front-row seat every night to watch my son. Not a lot of people can say that.”
Both father and son are focused on achieving one final goal at the highschool level.
Davin Zeigler wants to leave Benedictine as a state champion.
“That’s been the goal ever since I came in as a freshman,” Davin Zeigler said. “I always wanted to win. Get better, win a championship and raise a banner in here.”