City of Basketball Love

Liam O’Murchu (@Liam_0__)
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WASHINGTON D.C. — Haley Davis came out of last season feeling the same way as many of her teammates did. Frustrated. And who wouldn’t after experiencing a 2-18 season after which your coach didn’t return?

Thankfully the story has been different early on for the Ragdolls (3-1) this year. The team has already surpassed their win total from last year four games in thanks to strong leadership on and off the court.

On the court it has been Davis who has led the charge for a relatively young Ragdolls team. In her first two years at Ryan, Davis flew under the radar, overshadowed by other players at more traditional powerhouses in the Catholic League. But the 5-foot-11 junior looks set for a breakout season this year under the tutelage of a new head coach and a reinvigorated program.

Off the court, Jullian Rattliff has steadied the ship after coming over following a successful stint as an assistant coach at Northeast High School. He believes the program has significant potential and thinks Davis can be a big part of it.

“The way my offense is,” Rattliff said. “I need some shooters, I need a big that can be aggressive. So Haley Davis does that for us. We're trying to show her ability to shoot from the outside.”

Davis has been a lifelong basketball player, following in the footsteps of her father, who also played the game. Her and her dad have forged a bond through basketball, and Davis says that she credits her dad for pushing her on a daily basis to improve her game.

She is an incredibly versatile player and displayed that on Sunday in a 50-37 win over Medgar Evers (N.Y.) at the She Got Game Classic where she had 12 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Her ability to guard multiple positions is vital for a team looking to establish an identity under Rattliff and her skilled offensive game speaks for itself.

“I consider myself an inside-outside [player] because I can shoot threes, shoot mid-range and even drive to the basket if I have to,” Davis said. “And I can post girls up because I have some length.”

She looks up to Azzi Fudd, the UConn sophomore phenom who played her high school ball at St. John’s College High School (D.C.), just over two miles away from where Davis played on Sunday. 

Something Fudd excels at that Davis is looking to emulate is her shooting ability. Davis has worked tirelessly over the last year to improve her range and shooting percentage and has seen clear improvements in that area.

Davis recognizes that she will match up against some of the best players in the Philadelphia area come league play. But she is not shying away from the challenge even though she knows that she’s going to have work on aspects of her game on and off the floor as the year goes on and into next season.

“I've been looking at just getting stronger, especially in the post,” Davis said. “Because I know I'm gonna have to play a lot of bigger girls because we don't really have that much size.”

The team’s performance last season was something they weren’t proud of, but as Rattliff has come in and tried to turn the culture around he’s been impressed by many of the returning players in the program. After being the punching bag of the PCL last season, they are hungry to turn it around.

“They weren't okay going 2-18 last year,” Rattliff said. “And that's the biggest thing from the outside looking in. You're not sure about that until you actually get around the young ladies and when I got around the young ladies, they want to win.”

Rattliff knows there is still a way to go to complete the rebuild but thinks that Davis could be an important representative of what he wants to do with the program. The more she improves on the little things, especially defensively, the better the team will be overall.

“We just have to find what your best attribute is and exploit it, and that's what we're going to use,” Rattliff said. “While behind the scenes we're working on all the little stuff. And that's the same thing with Haley. We can exploit what she does really well which fits into our offensive inside outside game. And then we're going to work on that defense getting better.”

Davis is in a similar boat to many of her teammates who have struggled to get looks from college coaches coming off a two-win season. Right now she is focused on getting her name out there and continuing to attend camps. Rattliff mentioned a few local Division III schools that have been looking at Davis, including Cabrini and DeSales. 

He recognizes the challenges his players have faced and says that he has been focusing on getting his team exposure through events. But the biggest thing that will get Ryan more players more looks is simply winning more games.

“I think once we start winning games and people start to give us a little bit more attention,” Rattliff said, “The floodgates will open up.”