From Cali to Cowboy: J.R. Davis' Unconventional Route To Becoming A Star In Stillwater

By Elias Williams, Oklahoma State Athletics Communications

In his first year as an Oklahoma State Cowboy, J.R. Davis has become a star.

The journey to how Davis got here is a unique story, one filled with perseverance, hard work and a valuable mentorship with a baseball great.

A native of California, Davis took an unconventional route to Stillwater. But since joining coach Josh Holliday's ballclub last fall, he has cemented himself into the Cowboy lineup with his solid defense at second base and impressive numbers at the dish.

"I never expected to be in Stillwater, Oklahoma," Davis said, "This was farfetched, definitely, but I love being here. It's weird being from California and coming to Stillwater, but I love everything about this place."

Davis grew up in Vallejo, California, a town that sits on the San Pablo Bay, just north of San Francisco and only a 45-minute drive away from the ivory towers of the University of California at Berkley.

"Growing up, I wanted to go to Cal," Davis said. "But that fell through, given my situation, being injured a bit and having to fight against the grain."

Coming out of St. Patrick–St. Vincent High School, Davis stayed in the Bay Area and committed to Contra Coast Community College. While there, Davis suffered an ankle injury just nine games into the season and was sidelined for the remainder of his freshman campaign.

In those nine games though, Davis showed flashes of his potential, batting .333 with four doubles and three stolen bases. The ankle injury ended his freshman season, but Davis wasn't going to let one injury defeat him.

"I always embrace the situation that I'm in and try to take the good an bad out of it," Davis said. "I kept the same mindset as when I was growing up and just put in a lot of work to get back."

He worked. He worked day and night – and he had a little help along the way.

Former St. Louis Cardinals' great Willie McGee has been a valuable mentor to J.R. Davis. — Former St. Louis Cardinals' great
Willie McGee has been a valuable mentor
to J.R. Davis.

"Willie McGee played a major role kind of as my mentor during that process," Davis said.

McGee, a former major league outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, was pivotal in getting him back onto the diamond.

"I actually met (McGee) in Little League," Davis recalled. "He came and spoke at a banquet that we had so it was kind of odd and awkward to meet him again when I was playing at junior college.

"He was coaching softball at another school, and when I saw him again I said, 'I know what you've done, I know what you've accomplished, I want to do the same thing.'"

"After that, he just took me under his wing and said it's all about work. I knew I would have to work hard."

That summer, in between duties for his summer-ball team, the Alameda Merchants, Davis worked with the 1985 National League MVP.

"We did a bunch of tee work for months straight," Davis said. "I asked him once when we were going to get off the tee because I thought I was ready for some other stuff. He told me that was all he did growing up and in the system, and it's all about the fundamentals of the game. So once I heard that, I added it to my work and it's something I use to try to get better."

McGee was invaluable to Davis' rehab. He was receiving guidance from a four-time Major League Baseball All-Star for months, but Davis said in all of the time they had known each other, he never looked at McGee as a two-time batting champion and three-time Gold Glove winner – he was simply his mentor.

"With my situation in being hurt and not being able to play, I think it really hit home with him," Davis said. "He could relate to me, and I could relate to him on a personal level."

Davis said that it wasn't until nearly a year into their relationship when he perceived how unique his situation was.

"I realized how crazy it was to be working with him when I called him one day to work out, and he couldn't make it," Davis said. "I said I was ready to work, and he told me, 'I have to call you back, I'm about to throw out the first pitch at this Cardinals' playoff game.' I kind of just went, 'Wow.' I've really been blessed to work with this guy."

That work paid off in a summer with the Merchants where Davis batted .310, knocked in 25 runs and scored 43 runs. He then made his move to the middle of the country, expecting to play for Seminole State College in Seminole, Oklahoma, but running into another roadblock.

Davis, who recovered from his ankle injury and hit .288 with 13 stolen bases as a sophomore at Contra Costa CC, requested a retroactive medical redshirt for his freshman year but was denied by both his conference and the NJCAA, making him ineligible to play at Seminole State and giving him only two years of eligibility after making the trip east to catch the eye of some Division I programs.

Whild Davis was kept from playing the game he loved, the time off the field didn't keep schools away from recruiting him. Eventually he had garnered the attention of several big names in the game, including Oklahoma State.

"We knew of J.R., but we'd never seen him play," said OSU head coach Josh Holiday. "A couple of our coaches had only seen him practice, but they felt that he was an intriguing athlete and we decided to take a chance on him."

Davis became a Cowboy.

But midway through the Cowboys' fall preseason training, the injury bug struck Davis again, this time forcing him to undergo shoulder surgery.

"He had some early luck in the fall with us, but then we had to put everything on pause because of his injury," Holliday said.

"Last year, I wasn't able to play because of my redshirt deal," Davis said. "And then I got injured again. So it's definitely been a hard process for me. It just makes it easier when you've got people around you cheering you on who just want you to succeed."

In his first Cowboy season, Davis missed the first nine games and went hitless in his debut against North Carolina at the end of February. Then he caught fire – and he hasn't slowed down since.

In 32 games this season, Davis is second on the team in batting average with a .336 mark, and he is the Cowboys' leading hitter in Big 12 Conference play at .393. Hitting mostly in the leadoff spot in the order, OSU is 17-5 when Davis is atop the lineup card.

And Davis has also made history. In early April in the Appalachian community of Morgantown, West Virginia, Davis became the first Cowboy since 2011 to hit for the cycle.

"He'd hit a few balls hard off then fence that game, but I wasn't keeping track to see if they were doubles or triples," Holiday said. "I knew he had hit a home run, and I remember the single because it dribbled by the pitcher. But it never occurred to me until after the game that he'd hit for the cycle."

Davis walked to open the game against WVU, tripled in the third, singled in the sixth, hit his first career home run in the eighth and doubled with his last at-bat of the day. He accounted for six of the Cowboys eight runs scored that day in their 8-1 victory over the Mountaineers.

"My main objective is always just to get on base so my teammates can hit me in," Davis said. "If I get on base I feel we have quality guys who can put together quality at-bats after me so I'm always just trying to put a good swing on it."

He's gotten three or more hits four times this season, including his memorable day in Morgantown, and has gone on a pair of six-game hitting streaks this season.

Although, Davis said he never expected to be in Stillwater, the embrace he's gotten from the team has made the difference in his growth as a player.

"From players to coaches, everyone has had my back as soon as I stepped on campus," Davis said. "I love this team. People back home dream to be in the situation that I'm in, and you don't get to see that everyday."

Back in Vallejo, Davis was a three-sport athlete through high school. But baseball, he said, was the sport to play in the town of 100,000.

"Growing up (in Vallejo), if you're not playing baseball it's different; it's hard," he said. "There's a lot of poverty and violence, but baseball was the escape for all young kids growing up where I come from."

New York Yankees' All-Star C.C. Sabathia is a product of Vallejo, but the sport has taken a decline recently, taking a backseat to other popular sports.

"(Baseball is) all we played when I was growing up," Davis said. "Now people are kind of shying away from it because we don't have the same presence in the game today like we used to.

"But now that there's me and Daniel Johnson, my friend at New Mexico State, we're keeping it going. We came up with this motto 'GFB,' and we know if we keep our priorities straight like that, we'll succeed."

GFB. God. Family. Baseball.

That was the motto that Davis and Johnson came up with in high school, and Davis continues to follow it every day of his life.

"I give thanks every time I step onto the field," Davis said. "My family was always there to support me. Even when I played three sports, it was time consuming, but they were there.

"Baseball has paved the way for a lot of people where I'm from so I owe this game a lot."

Davis' dedication has turned him into one of the best leadoff hitters in college baseball, and even after all of his setbacks and accolades, he still relentlessly works toward bettering himself and his team.

"He's traveled an interesting journey to get here, one that he's probably matured a lot from," Holiday said. "He's made some of his own luck with hard work, and that's always exciting to see. I never say people deserve success, but J.R. is a guy who you can't help but root for."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

From Cali to Cowboy: J.R. Davis' Unconventional Route To Becoming A Star In Stillwater

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J.R. Davis

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