Davis, Collins celebrate signing day with Chester pride

CHESTER >> Gatherings like Wednesday’s in Chester would be once- or twice-in-a-decade occurrences at most public schools.

They’ve become the expectation for the Clippers boys basketball program.

In front of a large crowd of family, friends and teammates in STEM Academy’s gymnasium, Chester basketball players Marquis Collins and Stanley Davis Jr. signed their national letters of intent to play Division I basketball, at Delaware State and Morgan State, respectively, on the first day of the spring signing period.

Along with Maurice Henry, who didn’t attend Wednesday’s ceremony but will head to Delaware State, the Clippers have three Division I basketball players among their nine-strong Class of 2016. With All-Delco Khaleeq Campbell pursuing Division II interest, coach Larry Yarbray expects all nine to play collegiate basketball somewhere.

“It’s just a pleasure to see somebody get a chance to go to school through basketball,” Yarbray said. “That’s part of our philosophy: Use basketball as a stepping stone to get where you need to be, so now they get the opportunity to do something and go on to the second phase.”

Collins, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward who averaged a team-high 12.1 points per game this season, and Henry will join a long line of Chester connections to the Hornets.

“I wanted to go to a school that I was going to go in and impact the first day I stepped on campus,” Collins said, “and I felt like I had the best chance at Del State.”

Davis, a lanky 6-foot-2 guard who committed relatively late in the process in February, felt the connection to Morgan State echoed what he knew from Chester.

Yarbray has fond memories of each, from the days that Davis and Collins, both second team All-Delco picks as seniors, played in the Chester Biddy League. Collins grew up as a neighbor of Yarbray’s, and from the age of eight or nine, Yarbray anticipated that both would do what it took to earn the honor of representing Chester.

“I can remember Marquis going on the courts by himself when he was probably five, six years old, shooting jump shots in the blazing sun, working on his craft and paying his dues,” Yarbray said. “You could see that he wanted to be a Clipper from an early age, and he got to live out his dream. At the end of the all that, all the hard work, dedication he had in the classroom and on the court, that’s paid off.”

Wednesday’s presentations focused on the legacies of Davis and Collins, as students first and athletes second. Both spoke of adversity – Davis of a protracted recruiting process, Collins of a shoulder injury this season and cuts from varsity as a freshman and AAU. But they also discussed the achievement of recovering from the Clippers missing the PIAA tournament for the first time in 22 years last winter, then returning to the District One Class AAAA final and the state quarters in 2015-16.

With most of Chester’s team in attendance, including junior leaders Ahrod Carter, Jordan Camper and Jamar Sudan, the message was clear, as Davis and Collins stat with their parents on stage signing their letters. This is where the next group must get, and they have the models to emulate on the journey.

“I feel like it’s just being great people first and then great basketball player,” Collins said. “We’re the anomaly. We’re not the typical Chester team. We all care about our academics and our character and then basketball.”

“Always play hard,” Davis added. “We left behind leadership. We hope that the seniors – Ahrod, Sudan and Jordan – come back with a vengeance. Just play hard and go all out.”