During his time as a Sacred Heart basketball player, Kelvin Davis electrified crowds throughout Waterbury and the rest of the Naugatuck Valley.
Davis provided plenty of thrills, and he made plenty of friends.
Want proof?
Look no further than Alumni Hall on Saturday, where Sacred Heart players from different graduating classes — men and women — will play a pair of games for Davis.
Davis is once again battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same cancer he fought publicly as a college player at San Diego State University.
There’s a girls game at 10 a.m., followed by a boys game at noon. The alumni games are the first for basketball, and they are free. Any and all donations made, however, go to Davis and his fight.
Davis won the 2009 Most Courageous Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Davis was a national story, and was part of an online chat on ESPN about his fight against cancer.
I remember when Davis, Jon Lucky and Rob Lucky came to play my hometown Torrington High School when I was a student there. Sacred Heart had a crazy good team that year — gee, not much has changed, has it? — and Davis was renowned around the league for his insane leaping ability.
I still vividly remember the windmill slam Davis threw down on a fast break. It even had the opposing Torrington fans in Connie Donahue Gymnasium buzzing. He was spectacular, and he brought terrific energy to the court. He’s also brought that energy to his fight against cancer.
In his story for The Zone, Joe Palladino talked to alumni Katie O’Toole and Freddie Feliciano about the alumni games and Davis. It”s a great article, by the way, so go give it a read.
Palladino provided contact numbers for O’Toole and Feliciano in his story. There’s also a Facebook group supporting Davis and the games. It’s called Sacred Heart Alumni Basketball Game. Check it out!
Bottom line, cancer sucks, and Kelvin Davis needs your help. Get to Alumni Hall Saturday, enjoy some hoops, and make a donation. Any and all amounts count.
