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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

Davie boys basketball is coming off a magic season.

Its 16-0 burst out of the gate represented the finest start in the 68-year history as well as the longest winning streak ever. The 22-5 record marked the third 22-win season in Davie annals. The War Eagles finished second in the CPC and picked up their first playoff win in five years. It was a nice follow-up to Josh Pittman’s first year at the helm: 17-9.

The 2023-24 War Eagles had to say goodbye to starters Ethan Ratledge (9.4 points per game) and Coleman Lawhon (8.7), but the machine that Pittman is building doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. He expects absolutely no drop-off in 2024-25.

“They’ve been working hard this summer and it shows,” said Pittman, who is 161-72 in his nine-year career. “I’m excited. If we just keep working, doing it the right way and playing together, I think we’ll have another good year.”

Davie will have two foundational pieces back: Jackson Powers and Bryson Mickey. Powers is putting together a resume few Davie players this century can match: 14.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots as a sophomore and 13.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks as a junior. The big man has led Davie in all three categories the past two years.

“Jackson is still being Jackson,” Pittman said. “He’s getting better and better. He’s playing really good against some good bigs. His (college) interest is growing a lot, too. He’s talked to three or four and I’ve talked to three or four on his behalf. There’s a lot of interest, it’s like I keep telling him he’s got to have that one game in front of everybody where he just shows out. Three or four schools will come see him. We beat a team Saturday night (July 13) that is a really good team that was expected to beat us by a lot. On Sunday, we played another team that draws a lot of attention. In the first half, Jackson had 12 or 14 points and six or seven rebounds and three assists. He was commanding the game (in eventual loss). That was probably Jackson’s game to get 28 or 30 points, but it’s so hard with travel ball trying to get everybody on the same page because you’ve got parents telling them they need to score and you’ve got other ones saying why is he getting all the writeups? So it’s always a coin toss when you’re trying to put a team together. But once Jackson puts a really good game together, in front of the right schools, I think he’ll get more than one (offer).”

Mickey is a bona fide bucket-getter. He probably puts on moves when he’s in the gym by himself. Last year he was the No. 2 scorer at 12.8, he averaged 4.2 rebounds and 3 assists, shot 45 percent from 3 and 81 percent from the line. When Davie’s season ended, he was 12th in 4-A with 58 3-pointers.

“Bryson has been playing lights out,” Pittman said. “The biggest thing with Bryson is he’s worked on his body. He’s down about 10-15 pounds and that translates into him moving better, being able to defend better, break down the defense better. He looks like he feels better out there. Plus, he got his first offer from Dean College (in Massachusetts). It’s D-III, but once you get one, you’re going to get two or three.”

In travel ball, Pittman’s team included Powers, Adam Brown and George Sakai. Brown only averaged 2.7 points for the varsity last year, but he’s one of those who never complains and does whatever he can do to help the team. He had his moments – 11 points here, eight points there, then seven points, five rebounds and four assists in another game. Pittman likes everything about him.

“Adam has really come along,” he said. “He’s pushing to be a starter, to be honest with you. He’s playing some really good basketball, and he has been all summer.”

With three starters graduated, Elliott Erlandsson will have an opportunity to make a name for himself. Working in the shadows, he averaged 3.5 points last year. But like Brown, he had some highlights, like a 15-point, 10-rebound outing, a 12-point game and another game with 13 points and nine boards.

“I always go see Bryson and Elliott play (for the Spartans),” Pittman said. “Elliott is gaining his confidence back.”

We’ll hear plenty from Ethan Driver (5.7 ppg) the next two years. He broke into the starting lineup at midseason and contributed six double-figure scoring games, as well as a 10-rebound effort. This summer, Driver played on a travel team with Ben Reid and Isaac Swisher. Reid was a JV player last year, while Swisher appeared in 13 of 27 varsity games.

“Ben, Ethan and Isaac have taken a step,” he said. “I think they’ve really improved and they’re going to be able to step into some big roles.”

After appearing in 12 games as a varsity backup, Cam Owens’ development has taken a big jump, and he’ll have a chance to be a big factor in the backcourt.

“Cam has gotten a lot better,” Pittman said. “I don’t want to have to play (Mickey) at point guard; I’m hoping that Cam will continue his growth. Cam has had some interest from a couple of schools. The thing I’m trying to get out of him is he can be just as effective without the flash. If he can get the flashiness out and learn and understand when to be flashy and not be flashy all the time, he’ll be a whole different player. And I think he’s starting to get it and understand.”

After playing JV as a sophomore, Sakai spent the summer playing on the older team with Powers and Brown.

“George is playing up,” Pittman said. “I told him there wouldn’t be much playing time, but he wanted to play anyway and he’s been playing well against good competition in the spotty minutes that he gets.”

As far as the big picture goes, it looks like the War Eagles are going to be good for a while. Pittman couldn’t be more excited about the rising freshman class. Davie will have a new JV coach in Will Tibbs, who has been the varsity assistant the past two years.

“The rising ninth-grade class is going to be pretty good,” Pittman said. “There’s 10 to 12 that are going to be really good. I think (several of them) are going to try to play football. I told them to do whatever they want to do. As long as they can get in the gym on weekends, they’ll be fine by me.”