Jacob Davis is still a couple of months away from his senior tennis campaign, but what comes after that has already been decided. Davis signed a national letter of intent on Monday morning to join the William Jewell College men’s tennis program.
Davis has been a fixture of the Trenton boys’ tennis team for the past three years and moved into the number-one spot last season as a junior. Davis earned a third-place medal in the singles bracket at the district tournament.
The level of competition will jump for Davis on the college level, but the Trenton senior is up for the challenge.
“I think it will be a lot different because those guys are at a lot higher level than I am,” Davis said. “Those guys are all state qualifiers and state champions, basically. It is going to be a little challenging at first, but I think after a little while I will be able to compete with them. It is going to be a very good experience for me.”
Davis becomes the first Trenton boy’s tennis player to sign a college letter of intent since Russ Murphy, who signed with Missouri Valley in 2008.
“It is a very good honor for Jacob, especially getting to go up another level,” Trenton boys tennis coach Dave Sager said. “When you go to the team camps like we have in the summer, or even when you watch it on TV, everything is like the state tournament. Everyone is good, everyone is ready to go. He is going to have a good challenge with it, but I think it will be a fun one for him. You play a lot of people from small schools and now you will be playing people from all over the world. I know at William Jewell they recruit from places like Australia and Germany sometimes. So, it is a whole different level. It will be interesting for him and it will be tough, but I think he will have a good time doing it.”
Davis will have his whole senior season next spring to prepare for the jump before enrolling at William Jewell in the fall of 2017.