Daejon Davis calls it perfect timing.
How else to describe a hoops reunion among four childhood friends who left home years ago and reconnected to resurrect a moribund Washington men’s basketball team that’s coming off of one of the worst seasons in school history?
“Perfect timing, that’s a slogan, for real,” PJ Fuller said. “That should be the theme of the season.”
At the very least, it sums up the circuitous route for Davis, Fuller, Terrell Brown Jr., who each starred at Garfield High, and Emmitt Matthews Jr., the former Wilson High standout in Tacoma, who comprise four of seven Husky newcomers brought in during a turbulent offseason to replace eight departing players, including seven transfers, on a team that finished 5-21 and 11th-place in the Pac-12 at 4-16 last season.
Admittedly, Washington had been their dream destination since they were little kids who idolized UW greats Brandon Roy and Isaiah Thomas. However, each began their collegiate basketball careers elsewhere before returning to the Pacific Northwest.
Davis spent four years at Stanford, Matthews played three years at West Virginia, Fuller was at TCU for two years. Meanwhile, Brown’s resume includes a two-month stint at Western Oregon, one year at Shoreline Community College, two years at Seattle University and last season at Arizona.
Before Tuesday’s season-opener against Northern Illinois, Brown, Davis, Fuller and Matthews gathered inside an empty gym at Alaska Airlines Arena and talked about their decision to return home.
Here are the highlights of a 30-minute conversation that’s been condensed and edited for clarity.
Three years ago, I did a similar story with four guys who played four years together at UW. I asked them what’s the legacy you want to leave at UW? So I’ll ask y’all the same question.
Brown: “Just to change the narrative of the school. The last two years have been really tough. And to show that this is a family.”
Do you ever ask, why did it take this long to get back together?
Matthews: “At the end of (last) season, I sat there and debated whether or not I wanted to finish up at home and have my family at the game. I remember we played against PJ his freshman year, which was my sophomore year. It was at TCU and we were at the free-throw line. We were both right next to each other and I kept telling him, ‘We’re going back to Udub.’ This was two years ago.”
Fuller: “True story.”
Do y’all know about Terrell’s story?
Fuller: “Resilience.”
Matthews: “I told him that and he kept looking at me like I was tripping. I don’t know, I just felt like for us to be able to play back at home and go out with your friends in front of family and friends, I felt like that would happen.”
So you spoke this into existence?
Matthews: “It’s crazy. We talked about this 100 times. After it happened and we made the decision to come here, ever since we’ve been here we talked about it a bunch.”
That’s a great word. Anybody that’s done what you’ve done has got to love this game.
Brown: “I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far without loving it. I sacrificed a lot, especially time. Not partying or going out with friends. The route I took is not normal. It’s not the typical route, but I think the love of the game has always been there.”
Would you list the schools you attended?
Brown: “I went to Western Oregon for like 2-3 weeks. I came home and sat that year out. Then I went to Shoreline (Community College) for a year. I walked on to Seattle U. I got a scholarship after the fall/winter quarter. I did two years there and then grad transferred to Arizona last year. Now I’m here. It’s a journey.”
Would you recommend your path to young kids?
Brown: “I don’t think everybody should go that way. Maybe their mindset is not as strong as mine is right now. But I feel like it’s a story to tell. It adds to the legacy thing that we talked about. The route I took isn’t common, but it gives people hope that they can make it this far.”
I didn’t know you and Daejon are related. Are you real cousins or play cousins?
Brown: “(Laughs) Real cousins.”
Daejon, when you look back on your signing day at Garfield High with Jaylen Nowell, what do you remember?
Davis: “Excitement. I felt at the time it was the right thing. I don’t think that it’s ever the wrong thing to want to attend the University of Washington. I had so much support around me in friends and family members. Everyone was rocking purple. Doing it with my best friend at the time. We were in high school, we were about to go to college and then go to the league. We always had those dreams.”
Obviously, you de-committed from UW and had a really nice career at Stanford. Why leave now?
Davis: “I graduated. That was my main goal that I put out there and wanted to accomplish it. That’s something I hang my hat on. Saying you’re going to do something and doing it. … It’s like God’s plan. You hear it so much that it sounds cliché, but how many people do four years at a school and get to go back to a school that they were supposed to go to in their hometown with some of my best friends and family members. It’s a storybook ending for me.”
What degree did you get at Stanford?
Davis: “Communications.”
Of course. … Emmitt, you’re surrounded by Garfield Bulldogs, are you OK?
Matthews: “I’m perfectly fine.”
Davis: “He wanted to be one.”
Fuller: “Sure did.”
You’ve got to tell that story.
Matthews: “I enjoyed being the big fish in the little pond. That’s just me being realistic, I guess. … I felt like for me to be the guy that I am today, if I would have left and came up here then I wouldn’t have been able to develop my leadership skills. I just felt like I developed down there more than I would have anywhere else.”
You were a three-time all-Big 12 Academic selection. What are you studying?
Matthews: “I’m getting into sociology here because they didn’t have my major. I was sports management with a minor in communications.”
What can you tell me about PJ?
Matthews: “I’ve known this dude since seventh grade. The first time I saw him, he and Kevin (Porter) played for A-Plus. I played for Team Roy, and we played against them. Him and Kevin were dunking in the eighth grade. Fast forward and you see the growth and development. Freakish athlete. He can shoot the ball. He can put the ball in the basket in many ways. And defensively, let me say, I love playing basketball with PJ. Playing defense with him and these group of guys, it almost feels like I’m doing the press at West Virginia. But he’s got game.”
PJ, at 21 you’re the baby of this group. What are you learning from these old guys?
Fuller: “Leadership skills. They’re all really good leaders on the court. They’re all great influences. They’re always in the gym working and always pulling me into the gym. … They attack every practice and every drill as if it’s their last time doing it. I take note of that.”
After two years at TCU, what are you hoping to find at UW?
Fuller: “I feel like I’m at home. Being on campus and being in this arena, it just feels like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’m around the right group of guys. I’m around the right group of coaches. Everything just seems perfect and a dream come true. I used to dream of playing in this arena when I was a little kid. Now I’m finally here and it’s very surreal.”
This seems like a nice feel-good story, but can seven newcomers turn things around for a team that was 5-21 last season?
Davis: “We’re all on the same page. … Everyone is super honest with ourselves. There’s not much delusion. Everyone knows what they got to do to help us win and go to where we want to get to. You don’t come home to put on a poor performance in front of your family.”
Fuller: “This is by far the closest team I’ve ever been on in my life. There’s no envy, no hate and no type of jealousy. Everybody wants to see everybody do great on the court. I think that plays a role in team success when everybody is cheering for each other.”
This last one comes from new UW assistant Quincy Pondexter. If you had to do it all over again, would y’all have come here first?
Brown: “Nah. My journey speaks for itself. Everything that I’ve been through builds character. You learn life skills. You learn how to be away from home. You learn how to love your home and for me, this was the right time to be back home.”
Matthews: “I feel like God has a plan for everybody and everybody’s story is already written. When you look at the decision I made to go to West Virginia, … I’m 100 times better than if I would have went anywhere else. Now, I’m taking everything I learned there and applying it here, and that’s going to make me better as well as the team.”
Fuller: “For myself, me being far away from home, I went through a lot of adversity and I struggled mentally. Because of that, I feel like I’m a better person all around, on and off the court.”
Davis: “There’s no way I would change what’s happened to me, but I’m definitely very thankful to be here. To come home now, there’s less distractions. I’m older. I’ve gained all this experience, and I’m ready to leave it all on the court. It’s my last go-around.”
