By Kyla Guilfoil, Managing Editor and Sports Editor
Dee Dee Davis will be leaving Manhattan College for her final year of eligibility after spending five years on the Jaspers’ women’s basketball team. The announcement of her decision to enter the transfer portal comes just days after the Jaspers lost in the MAAC championship final for the second year in a row.
Davis told The Quadrangle that she was not sure about her decision until the end of the tournament. In fact, she wasn’t sure until the last few months that she would even be using her final year of eligibility.
Davis said that her fiance’s mother was ill, and her main focus was being able to be around her family. Because of the travel and the time commitment that comes with being a D1 player, Davis wasn’t sure that another year of basketball would fit into her commitment to her soon to be mother-in-law and family.
“At that point I said, ‘I know that my mother was sick but I think she’ll be okay,’” Davis told The Quadrangle. “But I can’t have this feeling. I don’t want to have this feeling of I’m worried the next time we travel or I’m worried about not being home the next time something happens, you know, that’s not right, I don’t want to have that mindset. So at that point, I was not thinking about the transfer portal at all, the mindset was, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to play next year.’”
However, Davis said that her fiance’s mother passed away in November. As Davis navigated grieving, she began to talk through some options with Jasper’s head coach, Heather Vulin.
Davis said that alongside her fiance’s mother, Vulin has been a mother figure to her over the last few years. Davis told The Quadrangle that Vulin has been supportive of her move to the transfer portal and has actually helped her in the recruiting process thus far.
Vulin did not respond to The Quadrangle’s request for comment on Davis’ decision to transfer.
Davis’ move to the portal has been a shock to many at Manhattan, especially after she has become such a familiar face on the squad. However, Davis feels that she has fulfilled her promises to the school and it is time to look for something new.
Davis, who received an B.A. in sociology and is currently working towards a M.A. in Organizational Leadership at MC, said that the main push for her transfer was academics.
“I’d love to have two Master’s [degrees] because I think that education is elevation,” Davis said. “I’ve been presented with the opportunity to have my entire coaching staff’s blessing on going somewhere to pursue that dream of getting another degree from another institution, but just from a level above.”
Davis’ plan is to pursue a Master’s degree somewhere in the field of business.
The look for a new institution presents a shift from Davis’ attitude earlier on in her college career. Prior to this final decision to transfer, Davis has emphasized her loyalty and commitment to Manhattan.
Davis explained that following an ACL injury at the end of her high school career, she had lost all offers to play D1 basketball. But, after a push from her high school coach, Manhattan decided to give Davis a chance.
“For me, loyalty is very important in coming into college,” Davis told The Quadrangle. “By the grace of God, [MC] recruited me…and I’ve had an amazing career. But we’ve always thought that that career will be four or five years, you know, it’s very, very rare for a player to get a sixth year and for students to stay at the same place they’ve started at.”
Davis believes she has fulfilled what MC asked her for at her recruitment.
“I feel personally that I fulfilled all that I said I would do,” Davis said. “[The coaching staff and I] made lots of agreements and have had lots of conversations about just being by each other’s side, and I feel that I’ve done that, you know, it’s once again, it’s very, very rare for a player to stay at the same program for four years, better yet five.”
Davis has an additional two years of eligibility beyond the guaranteed four due to a red-shirt year and the COVID year granted to NCAA athletes who were on the roster during the 2020-2021 school year.
Now, Davis is fielding messages from universities and colleges across the country. She said that from the day she entered the portal on March 14 to when she spoke with The Quadrangle on March 20, she had received 62 emails to recruit her to different institutions.
Over the last several days, Davis has narrowed down her list to a handful of institutions all over the U.S.
Davis told The Quadrangle some of her top choices include UC Berkeley, Clemson University, Duquesne University and Stony Brook University, among others. Davis said that she can not give a single top choice just yet as she is still discussing opportunities with several institutions and wants to make sure she knows all of her options.
Despite excitement and a commitment to spend her final year of play at a different school, Davis expressed gratitude for her time at MC.
“I know it sounds cliche, but once a Jasper 100% always a Jasper,” Davis said. “I get that when people enter the transfer portal, there’s usually some animosity towards the old school or there’s some hatred or negative connotations, and I get that, you know, everybody has their own reasons, but that’s just not my experience. [MC] has been nothing but love to me, and it’s nothing but love for me to Manhattan.”
Davis said that as a Bronx native, she will always return to the campus in Riverdale and looks forward to attending games with the remaining and evolving Jasper squad.
Davis leaves Manhattan as one of the top scorers in the program’s history, earning her career high of 37 points this season after the squad’s win over Siena in January.
“I’m extremely grateful to Manhattan and all the relationships that I was able to build here,” Davis said. “It’s going to be home forever.”
