Coach Eric Davis, Laney High School “Books and Basketball”
Coach Eric Davis has always put an emphasis on academics. He had a proven track record at Hopewell High School in Huntersville and now at Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. In speaking with coach Davis, he stated the following. “I want all of my student athletes to have the ability to go to college even if not for athletics. The ones that do have the ability to go play in college I always tell them not to limit themselves on where they can go based on GPA. When I was at Hopewell, we were 28-1 and lost in the regional finals, but also won an award for the highest GPA in North Carolina by the NCHSSA. We had Demon Brooks and Jordan Downing go to Davidson and later Presbyterian. Brandyn Curry attended Harvard. Alex Godette attended Army, and Earl McLaurin attended Navy. We had others at Hopewell that went to high academic schools as well.”
Now, Davis is coaching at Laney High School in Wilmington. He inherited a team that went 10-15 for the 2016-17 season and had an immediate impact on the basketball court. In his first year at Laney, Davis coached them to a 14-11 record for the 2017-18 season and followed up with a 22-4 record in 2019 and finished with an 18-9 this past season. Success has followed Davis, but he hasn’t taken any shortcuts along the way in terms of academics. Davis stated, “One of the things myself and my staff do weekly is have weekly conversations with our players every Monday to discuss their academics. This holds the kids accountable and gives us a chance to discuss any issues they may have in a certain class. We had 6 seniors that are graduating this year and all graduated with a 3.0 GPA. We have 16 students returning next year and 12 of the 16 have at least 3.0. GPA, not to mention 10 of the 16 have at least a 3.5 GPA or higher.”
When looking at the team stats for Laney, another thing really stands out and that is balance. Only one player averaged in double figures and that was 6’4 senior Demarcus McLaurin with 13.8 PPG. The next eight players averaged between 3.5 PPG and 9.2 PPG. 6’1 2021 Makoa Surigao averaged 8.5 PPG and is receiving interest from D2, D3, and NAIA schools. He shot 44% from the 3-point line. 6’4 2021 Lawrence Newkirk also stepped up big for coach Davis as he averaged 9.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG and is also getting interest from D2 and D3 schools. 5’10 2021 Kyvious Berry averaged 6.2 PPG and 3.0 APG and has received an offer from Davidson County Community College. 6’7 2023 Joseph Bachman averaged 5.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG and shot 52% from the floor and is already getting interest from Harvard, Yale, Penn and Davidson.
One thing is crystal clear, coach Eric Davis has embraced academic success at every stop and his “books and basketball” approach has proven to be winning combination on the court and the classroom. Be sure to check out Laney’s player GPA’s from this past season.
Mako Surigao 4.3 GPA
Joseph Bachman 4.3 GPA
Christian Pearce 4.3 GPA
Caedmon Hobgood 4.3 GPA
Mike Milholland 4.28 GPA
Lawrence Newkirk 4.0 GPA
Chris Rodriguez 3.8 GPA
Aymere Pittman 3.8 GPA
Kayin Scott 3.8 GPA
Dom Atkinson 3.5 GPA
Kyvious Berry 3.3 GPA
Shea Corbett 3.0 GPA