Somewhere toward the middle of Alabama coach Nick Saban's 34 minutes, 54 second news conference today, he mentioned Luther Davis. Exactly what he was saying is still not entirely clear. Specifically, Saban said that the sophomore defensive tackle won't participate in spring practice.
Out of spring practice for "Personal reasons."
"He has not been in the offseason program for a couple of weeks for personal reasons," Saban said, "and that's just what they are -- personal reasons."
Saban reiterated later that the status of the 6-foot-4, 275-pound West Monroe, La., native has not been decided for the fall. I later learned that Davis is still in school. So what's the deal? I asked around and couldn't find much. Then I called his high school coach.
Here is a section that is in today's college beats section...
Don Shows, who coached Davis at West Monroe (La.) High, was not optimistic about Davis's status. He said Davis is in school this spring and that grades are not a problem.
"I just don't know what he's going to do," Shows said. "When I last talked with him, he was all about staying there and working his tail off. But I don't know."
My conversation with Shows was pretty interesting. We spoke for about 15 minutes in an attempt for a deeper explanation. As you might expect, it's complicated. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't know all the answers.
But Shows said Davis really is going through some issues personally. Apparently, he is receiving a lot of support from people at Alabama, from coach Nick Saban to d-line coach Bo Davis to other counselors.
From what I can gather from various conversations with people who know him, Davis is an extremely complicated person with a complicated upbringing. (Did you know he's married, for instance?) In fact, his two brothers also received college scholarships to play football, yet neither finished his eligibility, nor graduated. Will Luther follow suit? That's not clear.
Luther will decide that. Apparently, Saban was told of and prepared for the complex nature of Davis' situation before he was signed. But this happens, perhaps, when a coach only has a month to sign his first class. Oh, Shows also mentioned Davis is suffering from a back injury, though that appeared to be improving lately.
This is just another chapter in a soap opera that began for Davis before he enrolled. Remember, he was the subject of a fierce recruiting battle involving Alabama and LSU. He committed to LSU, then de-committed, was extremely outspoken about it, and then signed with Alabama. In the end, Tigers coach Les Miles used an expletive to refer to the Crimson Tide at a signing day party.
Anyway, I'll let you know when I find out more about Davis.
Man.
