Davis inducted into hall of fame

By: Kim Strube
     After years of highlighting the athletic accomplishments of others, Reporter News Sports Editor Dr. David Davis was honored for his athletic achievements in his hometown of Duncan, Okla. last week.

     An All-State football quarterback and All-State baseball pitcher in high school and a All-American quarterback in college, Davis was inducted into the Duncan High Hall of Fame during an annual sports
awards banquet.
     “It’s something you appreciate – what your hometown thinks of you,” Davis said of being inducted into the hall of fame. “I’m very, very fortunate – to say the least.”
     While attending East Central University in Ada, Okla. on an athletic scholarship, he set several records. Rushing for 294 yards in one game, Davis still holds the national rushing record for a single game by a quarterback. Before graduating from East Central in 1972, he lettered for four years in football and track and two years in baseball. 
     Davis joined other well-known members of the Duncan High Hall of Fame, such as Joe Holladay, a University of North Carolina basketball assistant coach who led the team to a NCAA championship two years ago, and Ricky Stewart, a three-time NCAA wrestling champion and Davis’ first cousin.
     “In some way, they made significant contributions to Duncan High School,” he said of the inductees.

     According to Davis, he was notified of being selected for the honor while recuperating at home from a life-threatening bout with meningitis.
     “When I got out of the hospital, the chairman of the committee called me and asked what I was doing on May 15,” he said with a chuckle. “I told him that I would probably be meeting a deadline at the newspaper.”

     In addition to his athletic achievements, after earning a master’s degree in 1981 and a doctorate in theology in 1985, Davis went on to accomplish more as a public speaker and evangelist. From 1997 to 2003, he served as the national spokesperson for the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program.
     “I’ve been in over 3,600 public schools in 35 states and spoken to more than four million students,” Davis said.
     He also performed as a keynote speaker at over 400 civic organizations’ functions, including Kiwanis, Lions, Optimist and Rotary clubs.
     As a writer, he has had numerous articles published in the national D.A.R.E. magazine, circulated by the Los Angeles Police Department, and authored five books.
     Davis is also the publisher of the Gulf Coast High School Sports Magazine, a full-color magazine that highlights high school athletes in 13 schools in the greater Houston area.

     As a Southern Baptist evangelist, he has traveled across the United States to host over 800 revivalcrusades. While visiting India 15 times, he held area-wide crusades, provided financial support to build 10 churches and became the last American to interview Mother Teresa. As part of his ministry, he also made trips to the Philippines and Argentina.
     Due to his ministerial work overseas, he was presented two honorary doctorate degrees – one from Central Philippine University and the other from the India Bible Institute in New Delhi.