Introducing our WXXV Student Athlete of the Week: Biloxi’s Aaliyah Davidson

Our WXXV Student Athlete of the Week may not be the biggest on the court, but her presence makes a huge impact. Her head coach describes her as a coach’s dream, and she’s currently leading her basketball program to the 7A girls quarterfinals that will take place this Saturday. introducing Biloxi basketball’s very own Aaliyah Davidson.

The game of basketball has been a constant in Aaliyah Davidson’s family for as long as she can remember. Because she picked up a basketball as early as five years old, Davidson feels at home when she’s on the court and says it makes her feel the most at ease when she’s playing.

“I just love it. It just brings me a lot of peace of mind. When I’m down or something, I always just come here and be with my teammates and they just make me feel good just to be around the sport,” said the Junior, Aaliyah Davidson.

Not only does she enjoy the sport, but she’s pretty good at it too, and head girls basketball coach Devin Hill noticed back in middle school that she’d be something special.

“We got our eyes on her back when she was in junior high, and she had to be thrown into the fire early as a freshman and sophomore and she went through a lot of growing pains, but was the year that I told her you’re going to reap the benefits of all the work you’ve put in,” said Biloxi girls head coach Devin Hill.

“It has taught me to enjoy the process. You can’t just sulk on one thing, like one bad loss can’t affect you the rest of the season and the same thing applies to life. You can’t let one thing affect you your whole life. You can’t let it consume you. Sometimes it’s nerve racking, but I’ve just got to calm down and play with poise and everything will be okay,” said Davidson.

She plays with poise and extreme consistency. That’s why Coach Hill calls Davidson a coach’s dream. 

“She’s just so constant with the basketball. She’s very consistent, and I think the best attribute you can have is that you’re consistent. Aaliyah is that on the court and off the court. Off the court she’s a 4.0 student. We never have to worry about her in the classroom and likewise we don’t have to worry about her on the court. She’s kind of a coach’s dream. She’s that kid I can really get on to, probably harder than most kids, and she’ll respond. She doesn’t take it personally. She just wants to compete at a high level. She wants to get better everyday and every time she steps on the court, she competes at a high level,” said Coach Hill.

Recently she was recognized for competing at such a high level as she was named to the 2024 North vs South All Star basketball roster, but this huge honor isn’t what matters the most to Davidson.Right now, all eyes are on her Lady Indians as they prepare to compete in the 7A girls quarterfinals on Saturday.

“It feels really good to see all the work that we’ve put in from July all the way to now. It’s showing a lot, and I’m just proud of all of my teammates,’ Davidson said. “It’s just big for us. We just don’t need to let the outside noise get to us. Just stay in the gym and stay focused and just stick to Coach Hill’s plan. It’s going to work and it will work 100%.”

“We just try to approach the game the right way. Play hard with tough defense. Take what we can get offensively and not force anything,” said Hill. “Our girls do a really good job of understanding what our game plan is, game in and game out. We’ve got some really smart girls, so that helps our intelligence level and helps our basketball IQ.”

Here’s to hoping their game plan and high basketball IQ will have them raising a trophy at the very end.

“Win that gold ball! That’s the biggest thing. Win the gold ball and keep playing as a team and don’t let anything get in our heads with these last three games left,” Davidson said.