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#TGW: Q&A With Kaela Davis

July 24, 2014

By Jon Cooper

The Good Word

It’s pretty safe to guess where Georgia Tech forward Kaela Davis will be tonight.

She’ll likely be at McCamish Pavilion.

It’s where she spends so much of her time, anyway, and certainly was where she was last Sunday, when the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream hosted the Chicago Sky and former Yellow Jacket star center Sasha Goodlett. She’ll probably be there again tonight when the same two teams meet.

Davis, an All-ACC Second Team selection and an ACC All-Freshman Teamer (marking the fourth-straight season a Jacket has made the team), is the team’s leading returning scorer and second-leading rebounder with 18.6 ppg and 5.6 rpg averages in her debut in the ACC — she finished one point per game behind team leader Ty Marshall and one rebound per game behind center Roddreka Rogers.

Somewhat familiar with the NBA lifestyle (her father, Antonio, currently an ESPN analyst, played 13 years), Davis hopes to one day get a feel for playing in the WNBA — which has seen six Yellow Jackets drafted in it, three drafted in the first round, including Goodlett.

Davis took a few minutes during last Sunday’s game to talk about her summer work in the classroom, her summer work heading toward the coming season as a team leader and her possible future summer work in the WNBA.

THE GOOD WORD: How are you enjoying your summer?

Kaela Davis: It’s been great. I’m preparing for the season coming up. We have a group of seven freshmen coming in. We have three on campus now, so we’re just kind of getting them acclimated before, the next, I would say herd comes in in August. (laughs).

TGW: Are you taking summer classes?

DAVIS: I’m taking two classes. It’s always helpful if you can kind of knock things out early. So I’m taking two classes to kind of help myself out and maybe lighten the season up a little bit.

TGW: What else have you been doing?

DAVIS: I’ve been working out. Obviously, we have team workouts but the offseason is really for individuals. I’ve been getting up a ton of shots and focusing on the things I didn’t do well last year and just trying to get better at them.

TGW: After the freshman year you had, how long can the list of things to work on be?

DAVIS: (laughs) Obviously, there are little things that I feel like I can always get better at and improve. I’m just trying to fine-tune everything really.

TGW: Do you feel this is your team now?

DAVIS: Yeah, a little bit. I feel like I have a lot bigger responsibility with losing Ty [Marshall] and the seniors that we lost. It’s a big responsibility but it has to be done and someone’s got to do it. So I just hope I can lead these young kids in the right direction.

TGW: What are your impressions of the WNBA game atmosphere?

DAVIS: It’s amazing. It’s absolutely crazy. It’s kind of a weird feel but it’s something we hope for our games. There’s just a great atmosphere in here so I hope that we can get our games to be like this at some point. The Dream has great fans. I think it’s a great experience for everyone. Even just us getting to sit here and watch the next level, it’s an amazing opportunity.

TGW: Former Jacket Sasha Goodlett is here with Chicago. Did you get a chance to meet her?

DAVIS: I did. She’s a great, amazing, amazing girl. She just works so hard. Everyone here is just so proud of her, to see her drafted and playing well and playing on a team and getting good minutes.

TGW: Is this a good opportunity to get the Georgia Tech name out?

DAVIS: We’re handing out things. Kids 18 and under get in free on Sundays at our games. So it’s just one of those things to make people aware of what’s going on as far as Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball.

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