Mo’ne Davis, 15, of 2014 Little League World Series fame, has hung up her baseball cleats in favor of basketball sneakers. Heading into her sophomore year of high school at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, she’s aiming for a career in the WNBA. That journey begins with the process of college recruitment, which is why Davis has made the decision to skip high school basketball this season.
She was good enough to play on the varsity team as an eighth-grader and a freshman over the past two seasons, but this year she will step her game up in a major way. The star athlete will play AAU basketball exclusively with the Philly Triple Threat team, and take on the best talent in the nation.
“I made the decision because it was time to start getting out there in front of college coaches and showing my improvement over the next two years,” Davis told ESPNW.
The same competitive prowess she showed on the mound in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, comes out when she speaks about the challenges of the AAU circuit.
“There [are] a lot of girls that are really good at my age and older,” she said. “I just want to go out there and show them you can be ranked, but you have to prove on the court why you’re ranked. And we’ll just have a battle, just go right at it. … And we’ll see who wins at the end.”
The young lady Drake had the honor of hanging out with at a Sacramento Kings “Women in Sports” event last year is still riding high on gender equity bona fides she earned as a premier pitcher in a sport dominated by boys. Davis emphasized the scope of her belief expands well beyond the boundaries of the baseball diamond.
“No matter what level it is, everything [between men and women] should be treated the same,” she said during the Olympics. “The [USA Basketball] women’s team is just blowing out girls. The men’s team — I’m not trying to throw shade or anything — just won by like three points.”
Davis is hopeful that her past and future athletic performances will be part of a larger movement to recognize and respect women in all sports.
“This is a perfect time because of what the U.S. gymnastics team just did,” she said. “It just boosted a lot for female power. Now people can see — give girls a chance, and we’ll show you why we should have some more TV coverage. A lot of women are just proving it right now.”
