When Ryan Davidson was asked to coach the Jan Care all-stars in the Little General Stores Scott Brown All-Star Classic, he accepted without hesitation.
Not only was it a high honor for the Wyoming East head coach, fresh off a state championship in his first season, the game itself meant something to him on a personal level.
He played in it when it was called the Beckley Newspapers All-Star Classic. Now 29 years later he gets the opportunity to coach in the game named after Scott Brown, the former Beckley area sports writer who passed away in 1996 due to complications with diabetes.
Davidson had an opportunity to play in Brown’s penultimate all-star classic in April of 1995.
“It’s a surreal experience for me because (Brown) covered a lot of my games when I was playing him which seems like forever ago, but he was he was always somebody I talked to on the phone, or he was around and I was able to play in what, then I guess was called the The Beckley Newspaper game. And I remember him being there and, and us having a little bit of back and forth during the game. And so to kind of come full circle to be covered to play in the game and then to coach in the game, it means a lot to me.”
The 34th edition of the event sees the girls game return for the third consecutive year with no shortage of all-staters. Davidson remembers his experience fondly, facing off against an all-star squad that featured NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss and Beckley star Gene Nabors.
“The game has always felt important to me and I think that’s the thing that I remember the most about it is that it just felt like it mattered,” Davidson said. “And a lot of all-star games, they just feel like you’re put together and you go out there and play and just have a good time but this game always felt like it meant something and it still feels that way. I like that it means something to the area. It means something to the people in this area.”
Davidson isn’t alone as he’ll bring assistants Laken Toler and Austin Canada with him to coach his group of standouts.
One of the stars Davidson gets to coach is his own in Maddie Clark. The Wyoming East senior helped guide the Lady Warriors to three Class AA state championships during her four years, finishing with an 11-1 record in state tournament play. She earned all-state captain honors in each of the last two years. Her freshman year coincided with Davidson’s first on staff, giving him the opportunity to coach Clark one last time.
“I like the fact that one more time, we get to go out on the floor together,” Davidson said. “I came on staff the same time that she came in as a freshman. So we’ve kind of done this whole thing together. So it’s just a really cool experience to be able to do that with her and have this one last game together.”
Clark isn’t the only familiar name for Davidson. East’s path to back-to-back state championships the last two years has gone through all-staters Gracie Harvey (Summers County), Alaira Evans (Chapmanville) and Emily Wratchford (Ravenswood). After specifically game-planning for them with the highest stakes, he’ll coach them in a more relaxed environment.
“Wratchford and Evans really stand out,” Davidson said. “I thought that Wratchford was a really talented kid. Every time that we played them I just thought she played well. I thought she was super talented. Obviously we know Gracie Harvey extremely well and also Evans. So it’s good to have them on our side and not be playing against them and scouting against them. And some of these other girls, I have not been able to coach against like Kaitlyn Lester from Westside. So it’ll be nice to see some faces that I have not seen before. I’m familiar with the girls from PikeView (Brooke Craft and Cat Farmer). So a good mixture of both and I’m excited about it.”
It’s an all-star game but bragging rights are still on the line.
The competitive juices will be flowing and Davidson already has a few ideas in mind.
“I’ve thought a little bit about some pick-and-roll actions against some kids that we’ve actually put in that action,” Davidson laughed. “Instead of running it against them, we’re running it with them. I don’t think we have anybody that can hang on the rims so we probably won’t get an alley-oop. But the biggest thing is I want them to enjoy it and remember this game the same way that I do – that it was important and that they had fun. And then you never know, maybe one day they’ll get the opportunity to coach in it also.”
The Class AAAA-A Chick-fil-A All-Stars will face the Class AAA-AA Jan Care All-Stars on Saturday, April 13 at Shady Spring High School. The festivities will begin with the girls three-point competition at 2 p.m. with the game following shortly afterwards. The boys will follow with a three-point competition and dunk contest before the Class AAAA-A Mid State Automotive All-Stars will face the Class AAA-AA C. Adam Toney Tires All-Stars at 4 p.m.