By: John Leuzzi
It’s a day that A.J. Davis will remember for the rest of his life.
The former James Madison University star had been driving his daughter, J’Oni, to her mother’s house on the night of May 5, 2021.
As the two were getting off the freeway, Davis saw a homeless man on the side of the exit asking for food. After making brief communication with the man, Davis pulled over and got out of his car to sort through the groceries that he had bought earlier in the day.
“I had some perishable items and things that could help get through the night and whatnot,” Davis said. “It was just on my heart to give those things to him.”
The act of helping a homeless person is not uncommon for Davis, as he was brought up in a religious home by his grandma.
“She always said no matter what they are asking for, don’t question what they’re asking it for,” Davis said. “Whatever’s on your heart, just do it for them. So that’s what I’ve been doing.”
As Davis was looking for something to give, a Chevy Equinox came screeching off the exit of the freeway and smashed into Davis, pinning him to the back of his Chrysler. “
(The homeless man) actually said, ‘Watch out, watch out,’ and I didn’t think anything of it,” Davis said. “I crawled back to the front seat of my car, told her (my daughter) to call her mom and luckily where we were at, her mom was literally no more than a couple of minutes away.”
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VmXep5hFWZI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Both legs broken, Davis was pulled out of his car by the paramedics and brought to the hospital. Doctors amputated both legs and put him into a medically induced coma for a week, saving Davis’s life.
Davis had been set to make his TBT debut with The Founding Fathers, a team composed mostly of James Madison alumni, two months later after the team missed out from earning a selection to the 64-team tournament four years in a row.
But due to the accident, the Founding Fathers were without their “focal point” and “leader.”
“It was just a tragedy, but A.J. being the positive spirit that he is, his attitude has been miraculous,” Founding Fathers’ head coach Kevin Albright said. “It’s incredible how positive he’s been.”
Once he was discharged from the hospital, Davis joined The Founding Fathers in West Virginia for practice before their first round matchup against No. 1 seed Sideline Cancer.
“Being able to be around them boosted my morale and my spirits a lot,” Davis said. “Finally getting picked to play was definitely emotional for us as it was something that we worked so hard towards to get in. And then not being able to play, it was kind of an emotional thing. I was like, ‘man, we finally got in and I get in my accident and can’t play,’ so it’s kind of like a bummer.”
Albright, who was on the JMU support staff during Davis’s time in Harrisonburg, said Davis continued to bring the team together even from the sidelines.
“He did kind of unite the team a little bit,” Albright said. “It was always that, but then I think some people’s attitudes, his teammates, specifically saw how much of a tragedy it was. It allowed them to kind of play and be able to appreciate the game from a very elementary standpoint.”
JMU fans remember Davis for his performance on the Dukes’ 2013 team, leading them to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly three decades.
Albright recalled JMU’s game against William & Mary towards the end of that season as the game Davis made a Cinderella story possible.
“He just exploded and he took over the game,” Albright said. “He was by far the best player on the court that night and it kind of sparked our team because we went on to make a run in the CAA Tournament, won it and then went to the NCAA Tournament.”
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Davis, who earned the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year and CAA Tournament MVP honors, said the 2013 team remains special to him.
“One of the top tier teams and memories that I have,” Davis said. “It’s up there on my list of one of my teams that just definitely changed me as an athlete, changed my mindset of just being an athlete and how to look at things on and off the court.”
A core of that 2013 team — Ron Curry, Davis and Devon Moore — was back donning the purple and gold last summer. While Davis was sidelined due to his injury, he was not sidelined from being in the starting lineup for the Founding Fathers opener.
Both sides agreed on a ceremonial toss to get Davis in the starting lineup. After the tip, a standing ovation and applause followed as Davis wheeled off.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RR_k0_PnX0Y" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>“I was grateful for that moment that TBT allowed me to get to tip-off, roll out there and check in and check out,” Davis said. “It was truly remarkable. I can’t appreciate TBT enough for allowing me that opportunity and moment.”
Albright called the moment “super emotional.”
Over the past year, Davis has continued to rehab as he works his way back.
“I have my days of not wanting to do anything and just want to lay around just because the simple fact is just everything emotionally drains me from time to time,” Davis said. “There’s days I am just like, I’m over it.”
Davis now has prosthetics, but the “constricting” effect on his thighs means he doesn’t use them often. Davis said it has been roughly four months since wearing them.
“It’s not that I am not really fond of them or don’t really put them on, but it takes a lot of me trying to do what they want me to do in them and get comfortable with them,” Davis said.
Currently, Davis said he is in the process of finding a prosthetics company to fit him for comfortable prosthetics or a rehab facility to walk him through the steps of finding the right type of prosthetics to be comfortable in.
“I’m trying to get back in them … So I can get back up, walk in (them) and get back to playing, whether that’s wheelchair basketball or a prosthetics league or something of that nature,” Davis said. “I’m definitely willing to do that and put an effort towards that as well.”
From afar, Albright said the rehab has been grueling for Davis.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJE6BFmtdlI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>“’It’s something that we never think about but then when you talk to him and he walks you through the process, it’s not an easy transition,” Albright said. “People just kind of think that you get these prosthetics and you get a little bit of that mobility back but it’s tough. It’s a tough process.”
Though Davis will not be playing in TBT this summer with his prosthetics, Albright said his desire of coming back “speaks volumes of his character.”
“He’s not going to give up on it,” Albright said. “He’s kept pushing. He’s one who doesn’t want a lot of help and wants to stay independent. He has a strong personality and he’ll find a way to get it done.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🚨 PLAYER ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨<br><br>Doesn’t need an introduction.<br><br>A.J. Davis is 🔙‼️ <a href="https://t.co/zLbuWe7kEt">pic.twitter.com/zLbuWe7kEt</a></p>— The Founding Fathers (@FoundFathersTBT) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoundFathersTBT/status/1504980670141059074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>In addition to focusing on his rehab, Davis has spent this past year doing some player development for a few players in the Columbus area.
Though Davis is on the Founding Fathers roster for this summer, he will continue in the same role as last year: on the sidelines.
“Like last year, it’ll still be that player-coach role from a different lens, from a different perspective to help out Kev and Marv, the two founders of our team,” Davis said. “It’ll definitely be another set of eyes to help them as well to see things just not as a player transforming to a coach but a players aspect of things.”
Davis said while he will be on the sideline this summer with the Founding Fathers, fans shouldn’t be surprised if they see him on the court in 2023.
“Next year I’ll definitely be working on either planning again or trying to make my way to be able to get in there and give me a bucket or two,” Davis said.