CLACKAMAS, Ore. (KOIN) — Since middle school, basketball has been the majority of Jazzy Davidson’s world. Now 6-feet-1 and a freshman at Clackamas High School, she’s garnered the attention of opposing coaches who say she could be the best basketball player to come out of the state of Oregon.
“That’s a super-high compliment,” Jazzy told KOIN 6 News. “But, I mean, I have so much work to do still.”
But it was in middle school where she fell in love with the game.
“I love working out. Being able to play with my friends has been a huge positive for me. Everything about it I’ve just kind of fallen in love with at this point,” she said.
The daughter of a former track runner at Oregon, her mom didn’t just pass on her athleticism but also a mentality.
“She really pushes me to, like, be strong and if something isn’t going my way, like, work through it you don’t give up. You work through it,” she said.
That mentality and her innate athleticism has her coach, Korey Landolt (who also was a 4-year varsity starter for the Clackamas Cavaliers) believing the compliments from opposing coaches are spot on.
Jazzy’s visions draw comparisons with another Portland native thriving in her sophomore year at Stanford, Cameron Brink.
“She gets how to read the game,” Landolt said. “She’s not perfect at it but she sees the game differently than a lot of people that I’ve coached or coached against, like a Cameron Brink.”
Even though she is just a freshman, Jazzy already has an offer from Stanford — which happens to be her dream school.
“The education, I mean, the opportunites that you can get out of having that degree and then combined with the basketball, it’s llike the best of both worlds,” she told KOIN 6 News.
Women’s basketball is undoubtedly gaining momentum and popularity. It’s something Jazzy wants to be part of.
“It’s really cool seeing the progress in the WNBA and seeing how the game is changing and how players are progressing,” she said. “And it pushes me to, like, work harder and become a better player. It’s really cool to see all these women excelling and doing what I hope to do one day.”