Buddy Davis

A severe attack of polio as a child took a heavy toll on Buddy Davis and it took seven years of continual exercise before he was able to walk properly. By the time he enrolled in 1948 at Texas A&M, where he also played basketball, much of the strength had returned to his legs and by 1951 he was a good enough high jumper to rank second in the world with a best of 6-9 (2.05). He tied for second at the 1951 NCAA Meet and then tied for first at NCAAs in 1952. In 1952 he won the AAU at 6-10½ (2.09), the second highest jump to that time, and then set a new Olympic record in taking the gold medal in Helsinki. Davis set his personal best with a world record jump of 6-11⅝ (2.124) at the 1953 AAU Championship. It has been claimed he was the first person to jump 7-feet, which it is said he did in exhibitions.

At 6-8½ (2.04) tall, Davis was an outstanding basketball player at Texas A&M and was much coveted by the pros. He was drafted in the second round of the 1952 NBA Draft (44th overall pick) and signed after the 1952 Olympics with the Philadelphia Warriors. He had a good pro basketball career, playing five years, mostly with the Warriors although he was traded to the St. Louis Hawks halfway through his final season. Davis played in 325 NBA games, 299 with the Warriors, and had career averages of 4.8 points/game and 4.3 rebounds/game.

While playing in the NBA, Davis was a Jefferson County (Texas) Sheriff’s Deputy in the off-season. After he retired from basketball, he worked in banking for much of his life. He later became a civilian employee of the US Coast Guard, and then worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for almost 20 years. Davis was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964. At the beginning of the 2015-16 NBA season he was honored by the Golden State Warriors as a past champion. In January 2016 he was inducted into the Texas Track & Field Hall of Fame.

Personal Best: HJ – 6-11⅝ (2.124) (1953).