Bennett Davison (born November 21, 1975) is a retired American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played professionally for over ten years, including several seasons in Italy's

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

. Davison is also known for his success as a college player, where he was a starter on the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

's 1997 NCAA championship team. Davison was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and raised in Sebastopol, California. He was lightly recruited after his high school career at

Analy High School Analy High School (formerly West County High School) is a public high school in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California. It was established in 1908 as Analy High School. In 2021 Analy merged with El Molino High School and was known under the working ...

and landed at

West Valley College West Valley College is a public community college in Saratoga, California. It is part of the California Community College system. History The college was founded as West Valley Junior College in 1963. It was to serve the footprint of the Campbell ...

, a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

. After two strong seasons, Davison attracted the attention of coach

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head c ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and was offered a scholarship with the Wildcats. In his first season at Arizona, Davison started at

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

as the young Wildcats entered the 1997 NCAA Tournament as a #4 seed with a 19–9 record. They swept through the field to win the national championship, becoming the first team to beat three top seeds (

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

) in the process. In Davison's senior season, the team returned all five starters and was ranked #1 in the preseason, but was upset in the regional final by

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. For his Arizona career, Davison averaged 8.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game and started 61 of 69 contests in his two seasons. Following the close of his college career, Davison was not selected in the

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the To ...

. He instead began an overseas career, taking him to Turkey, Australia, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He played in Lega Basket Serie A, Italy's top league, averaging 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in his three-year career there. Davison tried to make it to the NBA during his professional career. In 1999, he played for the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

in the NBA Summer League. He was featured in the Denver Nuggets' roster at the 2002 Rocky Mountain Revue in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. On October 12, 2002, he signed as free agent with the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

and was given a minimum contract. On October 24, 2002, he was waived.

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