Basketball in the town of Davidson historically has been defined by Stephan Curry and what he did starting at Davidson College. Makes sense. Not only did he lead the Wildcats to the Elite Eight, he also then won three NBA championships and 2 MVPs, putting Davidson College’s men’s basketball on the map and elevating the Golden State Warriors to greatness.

Since then the Wildcats haven’t matched that Curry success but both of Davidson’s men’s high school and one collegiate hoops teams are scoring.

As an overview, Davidson Day High School, the Community School of Davidson (CSD) High School and Davidson College have all earned recognition in the past.

In the 2019-2020 HS basketball season, Davidson Day won the NCISAA 2A state championship and had a record of 30-1, finishing number five in the state rankings, according to Max Preps. 

CSD has had less success in their eleven completed seasons as a men’s basketball program. Their best season was the 2018-2019 season finishing 27-4, making the fourth round of the NCHSAA 1A playoffs and finishing sixty-third in the state rankings. 

Davidson College has had success since Curry declared for the draft and became one of the greatest basketball players of all time. The college has made either the NIT or NCAA tournament every year since 2008, as well as completing twenty-one straight winning seasons.

Things are looking up for Davidson College now, too. This year is the first year with new head coach Matt McKillop, and they have gotten off to a decent start this season and are hoping to make the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

But there’s more to basketball in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina this season than one small liberal arts college. A current snapshot of the town’s two high schools show a mixed bag.

Davidson Day is having a tough season. With a 2-15 record (as of this writing), and only one more easy win in sight, it is quite a fall from grace from the state championships they have achieved in the past.

The CSD Spartans began the season with a successful record of 12-7. They are led by senior Seth Johnson, who averages nearly twenty points per game and just scored his 1000 point. The Spartan’s biggest goal this season is winning the Catawba Shores Athletic 1A/2A conference and, of course, sweeping rival PLP.

If you cast your net a little wider, there is even more men’s basketball. While Woodlawn, a Davidson private school, does not have enough students for a team this year, if you head further south towards Charlotte, outside of Davidson, three public high schools, Hough, North Mecklenburg and Hopewell, are all NCHSAA 4A powerhouses.

Overall, the town of Davidson has had successes since the departure of Curry especially at the collegiate level.