Miah Davis' decade leading Bremerton has rebuilt the Knights program

Bremerton High School basketball is back, baby. Let it rip.

A program which last created a buzz around the region in the early 2000s, when the super-talented Marvin Williams was the center of attention and on his way to North Carolina and then an NBA career, is building for another power run.

Behind Coach Miah Davis, a 1999 Bremerton alum whose own rise from the Knights to college basketball and a pro career overseas preceded Williams, the Knights are poised to make another deep run at the state tournament in 2025, and likely beyond.

Scott Orness has developed a powerhouse at North Kitsap, which includes a state 2A title in 2020 and a third-place finish last spring , and after facing the Knights last season agrees Bremerton is headed in the right direction.

”I think he’s doing something special,” says Orness. “They play with respect for yourself – loving yourself. They have a shot at winning the state title this year (2024-25 season).”

Davis's family history has tailored this march toward basketball greatness and love for oneself.

For Davis, a key moment came the summer before his junior year, when he, his older brother and a friend dove to a store to pick up a video game. They had a slight accident with another driver, no cars were damaged, but it brought Bremerton Police to his door, and sent the boys to a jail holding cell temporarily, after the other driver complained she was the victim of a drive-by shooting.

The woman eventually revealed the truth: she had made it up.

The experience changed him -- and for the better, despite the terrible accusation.

“I grew up in the church. I have a strong faith. On the dollar bill it says ‘In God We Trust.' I believe God does not like ugly. I do not like that the incident happened. But it has made me stronger.”

He has taken what his parents, Vic and Mildred Davis, have taught, including years watching his dad play basketball at PSNS, being coached by him and Miah's own experiences of life, such as the incident from his teenage years, and squeezed them into three motivational words: Win the day.

More prep sports: Pick the top Kitsap male athlete from 2000-2009

That winning started early, as an AAU team of Bremerton kids made a huge impression in a Las Vegas tournament when he and his brother were junior high students.

“Nobody knew us,” says Vic Davis. “We were nobodies from Bremerton.”

It didn’t take long before they were noticed. They bulled their way into the finals. A defeat there, against a much taller team, didn’t diminish what they accomplished.

That’s the way it has been with Miah. There is no task too big to overcome. It’s main reason he took the Bremerton head coaching job in 2014. He wanted to not only bring Bremerton back to its glory days, but to impress on kids that there is much more to life than basketball.

“I really want them to hone on what they want, and not just basketball,” says Davis. “Basketball is only part of their life. They have to find avenues where they can focus what they want to do with life.”

Coaches he has had have had positive influences on him, including his dad.

“He has had a powerful influence on me,” Davis says.

He learned from Vic and Mildred to give back to the community and one way to do this is through Commit 360, a youth basketball program he founded, named after the region's area code. It's based in Bremerton but draws players from as far away as Sequim and North Mason.

The best player lives with him -- his son, Jalen. The rising 6-3 Bremerton sophomore is an amazing talent. That was on display last season, his freshman campaign, but dad says they saw it much earlier.

“As a young kid, when he first started to walk, I could see the handwriting on the wall,” says Davis.

Jalen was given a toy basketball when he was one and it became a cherished toy. He would often say, “Ball, ball, ball” and would sleep with it.

Jalen's love of ball has only grown, and blossomed last season. He averaged 26.8 as a freshman and  is averaging over 30 points in summer ball. In a June game against Rainier Beach, a Seattle school that has a long history of producing top teams in the state, Jalen scored 55 points with six blocks in an 89-81 victory.

“He’s phenomenal,” says Orness. “He’s one of the best shooters I have ever seen.”

Jalen has already been noticed by college programs. He has drawn interest from Washington State, Montana and Stanford. Washington also is interested in Jalen, who carries a 3.9 GPA.

There are good basketball genes working in the Davis family. Jalen’s granddad, Victor, played high school ball at the same school that produced the legendary Alex English – Dreher High School in Columbia, S.C. Vic was a physical center at 6-2, who when he played ball in the Navy got the nickname "Garbage Man."

Along with passing basketball lessons to his two sons – Victor Jr. and Miah – the family, including three daughters, learned from the late Bishop Larry Robinson of the Emmanual Apostolic Church how to love God and take care of your family.

“I try to teach to my kids to believe in yourself and always feel everybody is equal,” Victor says. “Don’t ever feel like you are better than anybody else. Don’t ever feel that somebody is below you. There is equal justice.”

Victor says he would take his sons to his games at PSNS, where they would see what it takes to be successful on the court. Now he sees that success Miah has built with his summer program and at the high school, and how Jalen is developing.

“He is unbelievable,” he says of Jalen. “When he grows into his body, he’s going to be tough.”

Miah Davis has rebuilt Bremerton's basketball program, while helping young men learn to love themselves and respect others as they travel their life paths, so it may be surprising to hear that hoops wasn't the sport that kicks the story off.

“I was obsessed with soccer, from six to 17, ” Davis says. “A lot of people would say I was a better soccer player than basketball player.”

The obsession with sports bred a competitive streak that then led him to success at Bremerton, two junior colleges, University of Pacific, the NBA’s G League and a long career in Europe.

A simple philosophy of his mother’s has led him: “Show up or show out,” she told him. “You go give your best.”

Terry Mosher is a longtime sports writer in Kitsap County and writes a regular column about sports personalities and history for the Kitsap Sun. Contact him at bigmosher@msn.com.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Miah Davis' decade leading Bremerton has rebuilt the Knights program