Clemson in the hunt for the next Sidney Rice

Last season Davis had 16 touchdown catches and 9 games with over 100 yards receiving.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Feb 09 21:24:18 GMT-04:00 2011

The offers have begun to trickle in for Gaffney wide receiver Quinshad Davis.

But Nebraska, UCLA and Alabama were in contact with Gaffney head coach Dan Jones on Wednesday, and that trickle will soon turn into a flood.

Davis has offers from Clemson [Clemson offered first, back in December], South Carolina and North Carolina St., with Georgia and North Carolina also expected to offer soon, and the offers come as no surprise for a receiver that put up the kinds of numbers Davis put up last season.

Davis racked up an amazing 95 catches in his junior season, including three games in which he had double-digit catches (10 each against Greenville and Greenwood and 11 against Northwestern). He totaled 1,486 yards and had 16 touchdown catches. In his 13 games, he went over the 100-yard mark in nine of them.

Jones said that Davis, who was making the transition from junior varsity to varsity last season, made tremendous gains last summer.

“Quinshad established himself during the summer as a go-to receiver,” Jones told TigerNet Wednesday. “Coming off of his junior varsity year, we didn’t know how good he was going to be. He was a guy that not only wanted the ball, but we wanted to get the ball to him because he made things happen when we did. That carried over into the season and he was able to have a great season.”

Jones said he was around when Sidney Rice, who now plays for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings after a playing collegiately at South Carolina, was at Gaffney and the comparisons between the two players are valid.

“I’ve been around Sidney Rice, and his senior year I don’t think he had 1,400 yards,” Jones said. “He had 1,100 or something like that. Both of them are exceptional athletes and both are very good players. I hope Quinshad can carry that on into college and possibly the league after that.”

Davis has several attributes that make him a good receiver, but Jones said Davis’ height is what stands out to him.

“He just has that rare combination of gifts,” Jones said. “He is 6-foot-4, and what we always tell our guys is that someone that tall is always open because they are standing above everybody else. He knows how to catch and position himself, and he has outstanding hands on top of that. He has several characteristics that you like for a receiver to have.”

Jones said Davis would never let the coaches forget he was on the field.

“If we didn’t get the ball to him, he would let us know,” he said. “He definitely wanted the football – he is just that kind of competitor. He wanted the ball, we have him the ball and he usually came through for us. We had one kid who was a senior that had 800 yards this season, and he had been our leading receiver the year before, so there were some other guys on the team that could make plays. But Quinshad always seemed to come up with the big play for us.”

And now, Jones has to help his receiver through what will be a busy recruiting process.

“There is no doubt that everybody in the Southeast is interested in him,” Jones said. “Anytime you have a receiver who is 6-4 and catches passes for 1,400 yards, you are going to get that. But I think it helps - as far as recruiting goes – that he comes from a program like ours and a region like we are in. The teams we play are good, and the colleges know he is seeing as good competition as there is in high school football.”

However, don't look for Davis to make a decision any time soon.

"I'll definitely wait till signing day to make my choice," said Davis. "I want to keep everybody on the edge of their seat."

Once, he makes his choice, there will be no doubt about his academics.

“Quinshad is a student-athlete, not an athlete-student,” Jones said. “He is already a qualifier, and that makes his stock go up as much as anything else.”

Davis has not been able to visit Clemson recently because of basketball season, but he seems to like the Clemson coach staff so far.

"Coach Dabo and Coach Jeff Scott are the coolest white dudes I have ever met," Davis said laughing.

Davis Highlight video