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Sickles High senior on college radars after picking up shot put just four month ago

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Published  May 16, 2025 7:23pm EDT
High School Sports
FOX 13 News
Sickles senior William Davis on college radars after picking up shotput just four months ago

Sickles senior William Davis on college radars after picking up shotput just four months ago

FOX 13's Mark Skol, Jr. reports.

The Brief

    • Sickles High School senior William Davis only picked up shot put four months ago, but he's already making his mark. 
    • In his short time doing it, he broke a school record, and he had a top five finish at the Florida high school state meet.
    • He is now on the radar for a college scholarship. 

TAMPA, Fla. - Sickles High School senior William Davis is a natural at throwing shot put. 

"Breathing is very important," Davis said. "Getting the muscle memory back, just make sure you can get the mark out there."

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That's saying something given he has spent hardly any time in a throwing circle. 

"I had no plan of doing track and field at all," Davis said. "I started throwing, and I kind of found a liking to it, and just kept going from there."

Big picture view:

The Gryphons star picked up one of those 12-pound metal balls for the first time in February. Throws coach Gary Jones gave Davis the push he needed to give it a whirl following the athlete's time on the high school's football and basketball teams. 

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"One of the things I tell all of my athletes is give it a shot for a week," Jones said. "If you don't like it, walk away like a gentleman and we'll be good. Typically, if you give them the opportunity, and they can find success or enjoyment in it, they'll stay with it."

Davis stuck with it, and he could not stop throwing. 

"It really blew my mind when I saw how good I was at it," Davis said. "I truly had no clue I was going to throw nearly as far as I was. I surprised a lot of people, including myself and my parents."

Dig deeper:

The senior isn't just good. He is the best to ever do it at Sickles. He now holds the school record with a 15.86 meter toss in the shot put after breaking the mark that was set back in 2016.

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"When I broke it, it was like, ‘wow,’" Davis said. "I didn't expect it, but I guess it happened."

It wasn't just the top mark in school history, Davis went from not knowing anything about shot put to a top five finish at the Florida high school state meet. 

"It's odd that you will have someone progress that quickly," Jones said. "Unless you get extremely strong or really good technique, it's hard to advance very quickly."

What they're saying:

However, his work ethic stood out very quickly. 

"He truly became a student of the sport, listening to everything that was mentioned to him by me as coach or other athletes," Jones said. "He would ask questions at meets. He tried to learn as much as he could. He would text me in the middle of the day, 'I found a video, what do you think about this?' He truly wanted to improve and get better."

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Despite only being on this shot put adventure for four months, Davis is now on the radar for a college scholarship.

"The scholarship opportunity – that's a once in a lifetime opportunity," Davis said.

Even a few Division I schools, like the University of South Florida, North Texas and Bethune-Cookman, have an interest in Davis to throw at the next level on scholarship just ahead of his high school graduation.

"It is very hard in this day and age to go to college," Jones said. "Talking to the first college and getting a response back saying, 'These are the marks we are looking for. This is the kind of kid we are looking for.' It was really encouraging."

This opportunity would never have presented itself if Davis decided to pass on throwing shot put back in February. He's glad he listened to Jones. 

"If someone gives you the opportunity to try something you have never done before, please take the opportunity," he said. "You may never know where it can go, where it comes from or the opportunities you will get after in the future. It can benefit you a lot."

What's next:

Davis hopes he will benefit from that decision for a long time. 

"I can grow with the sport and hopefully compete with the best someday," Davis said.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13 Sports' Mark Skol Jr. 

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