Plauderkasten^^ » depending on the vibes she gets from those coaches, Davis

WASHINGTON -- Venus Williams has pulled out of World TeamTennis matches next week because of the back injury that kept her out of Wimbledon. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam title winner, was scheduled to play for the Washington Kastles in home matches Monday and Tuesday, and on the road against the Texas Wild on Wednesday. The Kastles are on a 32-match winning streak. The 33-year-old American has not competed since a first-round loss at the French Open on May 26. She had played at Wimbledon every year since making her debut there in 1997. The Kastles announced Friday that Martina Hingis would replace Williams in their lineup. MLB Jerseys 2020 . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Stitched Nike MLB Jerseys ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/ . Woodson said during a radio interview Thursday that the Knicks Carmelo Anthony doesnt get the same calls as other superstars. Nike MLB Jerseys For Sale . Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. As a freshman, Rennia Davis played basketball with the physicality of a butterfly. The only contact she wanted was a high-five from a teammate. Stay away from the post, she thought. The backcourt, that was the place to spread her wings.But Kimberly Davis Powell, coach of her Florida Essence AAU team, wasnt about to let that fly. She wanted to toughen Davis up, inside and out, so she could become a versatile talent.I was almost defiant, Davis said of giving the post a shot. I would just stand there. I didnt want to touch the ball down there. I was tall, but I didnt have that much weight on me (130 pounds at the time). If a point guard was looking to throw the ball to me in the post, I was like, No. Go the other way. Reverse the ball. Do something else. I dont want it. Davis mother, Sheretta Davis, had her daughters back.I said, Oh my God, my baby doesnt hardly weigh more than 100 pounds. Theyre going to kill my baby, Sheretta Davis said.Turns out, Davis Powell knew what she was doing.Davis, now a 6-foot-1, 150-pound senior wing at Ribault (Jacksonville, Florida), is the No. 16 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2017 class. Last year, she was the Class 5A player of the year in Florida after posting double-doubles in 29 of Ribaults 31 games. She averaged 20.3 points and 10.4 rebounds. She led her team to a state title and then the championship of the Dicks Sporting Goods High School Nationals at New York Citys Madison Square Garden.Ribault finished 30-1, and Davis was the MVP of the Dicks tournament. She had 23 points and eight rebounds in a finals win over Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, Maryland). Davis had 20 points and 13 rebounds in a semifinal win over Seton Catholic (Chandler, Arizona).If Rennia didnt have a good game, it would have been hard for us to win, said former Ribault guard Kayla Rogers, now a freshman playing for FIU in Miami. The potential that I had always seen in her came out in that tournament.Mystery talentWhere that potential came from, nobody knows.Davis has no brothers. She has three sisters, and none of them play sports. Sheretta, a single mom, wasnt an athlete, either.But when Davis was in sixth grade, she asked her mother to sign her up for basketball.I said, No, girls dont play basketball, Sheretta said. I had only known basketball as a mens sport.Thats when little Rennia explained to her mother about the WNBA and how basketball can actually be a career for women. Somewhat convinced, Sheretta took her daughter to the local Police Athletic League. Unfortunately, they had missed the sign-up deadline and were told to come back next year.Davis insisted her mother mark the next sign-up date on the family calendar. Sheretta did so, but -- deep down -- she was hoping her daughter would forget.A year later, Davis asked her mom to put a basketball hoop in the driveway, and that became her Christmas gift.Ribault coach Sheila Seymour-Pennick saw Davis play during her eighth-grade year and was impressed.ddddddddddddEven though the other girls werent at her level, the coach said, she still shared the ball.By freshman year, Davis was an obvious talent. But Davis Powell wanted more out of her.For starters, the coach thought Davis could play up a level or two in AAU ball, against older girls, a move that her mother fought. Sheretta admits she didnt know much about basketball, but that didnt stop her from voicing her opinions.I told [Davis Powell,] If it aint broke, dont fix it, Sheretta said. I was pretty upset.Davis Powell, though, stood firm about playing up and also about working in the post.I always knew Rennia was a guard, the coach said. But she wasnt physical. She hated contact. We had epic battles with her and her mom. It took about [18 months] to convince them.It was constant communication. I told Rennia, Im not asking you to be a post player. Just turn and face, and take girls off the dribble. Her persistence paid off.During her junior year, when college coaches were allowed to start calling her, Davis Powell said, her mother contacted me to thank me. College coaches loved how versatile Rennia had become.Colleges lining upDavis said she no longer minds playing in the post or guarding bigger players. She said she has gone from being one of the two weakest Ribault players in the weight room in her freshman year to one of the two strongest.This Saturday -- in part because of the all work she has put in -- Davis will get a home visit from Tennessee coaches. On Sunday, Kansas coaches will swing by, and on Monday it will be Rutgers turn. Depending on the vibes she gets from those coaches, Davis will pick two of those three schools to add to her list of finalists. She already has official visits lined up for Georgia Tech later this month and Maryland and Oklahoma in October.With a 3.8 GPA, Davis seems like a sure bet to succeed as a student-athlete. And, because of her participation in Ribaults early-college program, Davis will enter college with an associates degree and a two-year head start on most freshmen.She plans to use her four-year scholarship to finish her bachelors degree and start work on her masters in business and restaurant management.After shes done playing basketball, Davis said she wants to own her own restaurant, where another one of her talents -- cooking -- can be on full display.Davis said her chef skills are mostly self-taught. She watched her mom as a child and did the rest on her own. Her specialties are seafood and soul food.And because shes a self-described neat freak, there is a certain order to how she prepares her meals and how they look.Shes an awesome cook, her mother said. Her food is not only tasty, but its pretty, too. I dont know where she gets that. ' ' '