Davis Settled on Being a Two-Sport Star

Playing one sport at the intercollegiate level, along with maintaining the academic and social aspects of school can be too much to handle for some student-athletes. However, Barb Davis spent part of her career at The College of Wooster competing in three sports — volleyball, basketball, and track.

As impressive as that was, one of the better decisions Davis may have ever made was to drop volleyball at the conclusion of her sophomore season. It wasn’t that she wasn’t contributing (she tallied 93 kills, 43 assists, and 43 blocks, while playing in 34 of 38 matches that year), but it allowed her to concentrate on just two sports.

The extra time Davis was able to put in contributed to two of Wooster’s earliest NCAC championship teams — one in track (1985) and the other a regular season co-championship in basketball (1984-85) — and it led to numerous accolades for her in each of those sports.

Davis’ true passion came out on the hardwood. The 5-8 forward finished with 928 career points, 671 of which came during her junior and senior campaigns, when she was named to the All-NCAC Team. In 1985-86, she picked up first-team honors after averaging 16.8 points and a team-leading 11.1 rebounds.

Upon graduation in 1986, Davis ranked No. 2 at Wooster in both career scoring and rebounding (653), and held single-season records for field-goal percentage (.504) and free throws made (76) as well as the single-game points mark with 32 coming against Oberlin College. She still ranks fourth all-time in rebounding.

What can’t be seen in those numbers is the leadership she displayed in helping the Scots to one of their two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in program history.

"(Barb) liked to go after the ball on the floor," remarked legendary Wooster coach Nan Nichols recently. "She was a very good hustler … an excellent offensive player … and brought speed to the basketball court."

That speed translated well on the track, of course.

Davis was a three-year sprinter with the Scots, competing in the 100 and 200 meters and making her biggest contribution as a member of the 4x100 relay. In 1983, she earned All-American honors in that event, teaming with Charlene Kemp, Darlene Kemp, and Pam Willis. They still hold the Wooster record (48.04). Two years later, Davis joined fellow Hall-of-Famer Univer Bukhala, as well as Leslie Davis (no relation), and Stephanie Kazmierski in winning that race at the NCAC Championships in 49.66.

Also noteworthy among Davis’ track accomplishments, she left the Scots with one of the school’s top-10 individual outdoor times in the 200 meters (26.62).

Davis continued her love of education and sports beyond Wooster. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education, she went on to Ithaca College and the State University of New York at Albany, where she completed work towards master’s degrees in physical education and special education, respectively.

Today, Davis is applying that educational background and has returned close to her roots, as the Wooster native is currently a special education teacher for Medina City Schools. Additionally, she is still involved in sports as the assistant varsity girls basketball coach at Medina High School.