Nate Davis Representing Small Town PA on International Stage

Nathan “Nate” Davis, a native of Bellwood, Pennsylvania, was bound to be a solid basketball player. While it isn’t considered the mecca of basketball, he was born in the state of Indiana by way of Goshen, Indiana, a state that certainly loves their hoops. The city is located 30 miles south of South Bend, Indiana, the home to the University of Notre Dame, a program that is one of the richest in NCAA history with two national titles and 36 NCAA Tournament appearances in basketball.

(Photos submitted by Nate Davis and credited to Vllaznia Basketball Club and Exposure Sports Photography)

While Davis was not Notre Dame bound, he was college hoops and even professional basketball bound. His days at Bellwood-Antis High School with the Blue Devils were some of the best in the history of the program as he led the program to two appearances in the PIAA state tournament. He also helped the program to a District 6 title and an ICC crown two years after the program just won five total games. Individually, he was named All-Conference three times, Second-Team All-State twice, to the All-Altoona Mirror Team twice, the Altoona Mirror Player of the Year as a senior, and a Blair County Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete. He also graduated as the Blue Devils all-time leader in points and assists.

After his days playing in Blair County, his career took him to Westmoreland County to play for the Seton Hill University Griffins. It was here where he was reunited with his older brother Noah for one college season, with Nate having the chance to see his brother crack 1,000 points for his career at Seton Hill. Obviously, it inspired him as Nate would graduate from Seton Hill as one of the top players in the history of the program.

His career would span 107 games, including 93 starts primarily at the shooting guard position. As a freshman, he would end the year tied for the team lead in points per contest with 11.2 per game. He also had a college career high against the Edinboro Fighting Scots as he exploded for 37 points. In all, he finished in double-figures 11 times in his first college season.

His sophomore year saw him make strides in a positive direction as he became the team’s leading scorer at 14 points per game. He would score in double-figures in 22 games while also sinking 149 three pointers on the campaign.

Another leap was in store for his junior year as he would end the year as a PSAC Winter Top 10 Award winner, a Google Cloud First-Team Academic All-American, a Second-Team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) performer, and as the team’s leader in points and rebounds per game with 19.2 points and 7.1 rebounds. He also would crack double-digits in points in 25 of the 28 games the Griffins played in the 2018-19 season.

He left his best for his senior season as Davis was named a PSAC Winter Top 10 Award winner for the second straight season, a Second-Team All-PSAC selection for the second straight year, a CoSIDA Academic All-American, raised his scoring average to 19.3 points per game, cracked 1,700 points for his career at Seton Hill, and scored in double-figures 23 more times.

He did all this while studying Spanish to become fluent in the language while also obtaining a K-12 teaching license along the way. However, the teaching certificate is something he’s using a little bit less these days as opposed to the basketball skills and the Spanish language as he currently is playing the game he loves on the professional stage in Albania with KB Vllaznia for his second professional season and first with this club. Previously, he played in Germany for Citybasket Recklinghausen. It was a contract with Citybasket Recklinghausen that he lists as perhaps his favorite memory from basketball because it signified years of hard work coming to fruition and allowing him to keep playing the game he loves.

The small town kid from Bellwood said this about getting to represent Blair County on an international stage.

“Coming from a small town definitely means a lot to me. I feel extremely blessed for the opportunities that basketball has given me to go and have experiences in such interesting parts of the world. I hope to be an inspiration for other kids coming from small towns to dream big.”

Best of luck as you continue your second professional season, Nate! Thank you for the chance to highlight your time in basketball to date 🏀🇦🇱