Cleveland, OH

Origin Stories: Kent State’s VonCameron Davis

Published

1 year ago

March 11, 2025

Origin Stories: Kent State’s VonCameron Davis

Everyone sees what happens on gameday. The points, the big plays, the final score and the numbers each player produces. But being a great basketball player is about so much more than that. It’s about the work that happens when no one’s watching, the dedication to the team and the willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

The college basketball scene is filled with great players, but Kent State’s VonCameron Davis is one of the most underrated players in the country. Not only are his on-court statistics impressive — but he’s also an all-around great teammate who does so many things that impact winning.

An Ohio native, Davis stayed close to home and has spent all five of his collegiate seasons with the Golden Flashes in Kent, Ohio. Drawing comparisons to Jae’Sean Tate and showing flashes of Draymond Green, he’s the ultimate winner and brings an edge to Kent State with his versatile skillset and leadership.

“I just influence winning. I think that’s what I do,” Davis said in an interview with Draft Digest when asked to describe his game.

But to get to this point, it was a long journey with hundreds of hours in the gym before the sun was shining. It all started with a teenage version of Davis looking up to his parents and their work ethic.

“My parents are extremely hard workers. They really introduced me to sports very early on,” Davis told Draft Digest. “My dad was a truck driver and my mom was a bus driver, so they woke up at the crack of dawn every day. So just seeing them wake up every day, just go to work every day with a great attitude and being positive just put something in me.”

Work ethic, drive and self-motivation are all traits that are hard to teach later in life. Davis learned these things early in life, which later proved to be a catalyst when he decided basketball was the sport he wanted to focus on. As a kid, he played other sports — including soccer, football, wrestling and swimming — but the summer after eighth grade changed everything.

“I started really taking basketball seriously in eighth grade going into my freshman year,” Davis recalled. “Me and my dad got a few trainers I made it a commitment — me and my dad, we made a commitment with my trainer. We were going to wake up every day at 5:00 a.m., get ready for a high school basketball and be prepared for everything I needed to be prepared for. My parents instilled that work ethic.”

The Kent State star would go on to say that the work ethic instilled in him early on made it easy to get better all throughout high school. His coach would open the gym before school early in the morning for a workout every day and then allow him to stay late after practice following the end of the day.

As Davis looks ahead to his next chapter beyond the college level, he has an interesting archetype. He’s essentially a “tweener” type player, which is commonly viewed as a negative — but is actually a positive if leveraged the right way. At 6-foot-6, he spends a lot of time playing as a forward, but also possesses some guard skills. He’s frequently asked to play three or four positions on the floor, notably as a jumbo creator or undersized frontcourt piece.

“I’m a switchable defender. I can hit threes. I can iso. I can play in the post. I just think my game is just like ultimate plug-and-play. I love getting my teammates involved,” Davis mentioned when asked about his versatility.

One of the most impressive things about Davis’ college journey has been his loyalty to the program. In an era of player mobility — during the birth of NIL and record transfer rates — he has remained at Kent State for all five years.

“Know your values,” Davis said when asked why he never left the Golden Flashes. “I could have definitely gone somewhere else and played. But with my situation I have at Kent State, I know it’s a brotherhood and it’s a family. Everybody at Kent State has a tradition of wanting to win. I knew I could keep being a big part of us winning.”

While he may not be a household name across the country, Davis is the complete package — on and off the court. He provides a well-rounded and versatile skillset while also having the level-headed mindset to obsess over the details and do whatever it takes to win.

His game will translate at the professional level, especially given how much value he provides on both ends of the court. He’s a moldable player who can lead an offense as the primary scorer, or play off-ball and find ways to make life easier for teammates. With Davis’ ability to process the game at a high level and play multiple positions, every team he plays for in the future will have the luxury of plugging him into any lineup.

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Cleveland, OH

Navy warship to be commissioned in Ohio for first time in 250 years

Published

8 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Navy warship to be commissioned in Ohio for first time in 250 years

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A U.S. Navy warship will be commissioned in Ohio on Saturday for the first time in 250 years.

The USS Cleveland is docked on Lake Erie ahead of the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Commander Bruce Hallett has commanded the USS Cleveland for more than two years.

“It is extremely exciting to be able to bring the USS Cleveland here to Cleveland and to be able to commission this ship here — obviously to introduce it to the city so that they can see the ship that bears their name,” Hallett said. “This has been a long time coming.”

The ship’s hallways are named after Cleveland streets, including East 9th and St. Clair Avenue.

A mural honoring the city of Cleveland is displayed on board. The Navy says it is rare to see something like this on a warship.

“Amazing mural, right? We’re so proud to have that on board,” Hallett said. “We’re just pretty much in awe when we saw all the stuff that we have in the city, and now we have it as part of the Cleveland. We love it as a crew.”

The ship’s weight room was outfitted by the Cleveland Browns with flags, towels, and mats.

“The Browns came and added their own touches to that weight room,” Hallett said. “So it’s all swagged out with all kinds of Cleveland Browns stuff now.”

The ship carries a crew of about 90, including two sailors who grew up in Cleveland.

The USS Cleveland is the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.

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Cleveland, OH

The Movie Nerd Report: Independent movie premieres in Cleveland this week – The Land

Published

21 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

The Movie Nerd Report: Independent movie premieres in Cleveland this week – The Land

It’s time for the Movie Nerd Report for Northeast Ohioans! (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

A trio of locally made films will grace area screens, here is your Movie Nerd Report for the week of May 11-17.

Thursday evening will bring the red-carpet premiere of “The Last Shop On Walnut” at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd Cleveland Heights, OH 44118) . The film, which was written and directed by Jason Richardson, was mostly shot in Ravenna. It stars Peter Lawson Jones and Cleveland native Kym Whitley. The screening will benefit the Charles & Margaret Jones Endowed Scholarship Fund at College Now. Tickets can be found at this link.

Can’t make the premiere? The Cedar Lee will be playing the film for at least a full week starting Friday!

“Blood & Rust” the debut feature from Kent State alumni Jeremy Herbert, will be coming to Cranked Up TV on May 19 and The Ashland Cinema (212 Center Street Ashland, OH 44805) will be offering a screening of it this Friday evening at 7 p.m., and it is free!

Sunday at 3:30 p.m. the Capitol Theatre (1390 W.65^th Street Cleveland, OH 44102) will present the directorial debut of Frank Calo IV in “Last Call”. Sounds like this one is poised to sell out so click here to grab your tickets.

Over at the Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44118) :

Cleveland is fortunate to be one of the five select cities of the Future of Film Is Female Series which highlights films from female and nonbinary filmmakers. The first film in this series kicks off Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with the Midwest road trip film, “Dreams In Nightmares.”

Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Dutch classic “Malpertius,” which features Orson Welles.

Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. they will present the Italian dramedy “The Last One For The Road.”

Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:35 p.m. they will present a documentary that explores the effects of colonialism on Northern Argentina in “Our Land.”

Saturday at 8:50 p.m. and Sunday at 5:45 p.m. they will present a 4K Restoration of the Argentinian film “The Headless Woman”

Sunday at 3:30 p.m. they will present the documentary “Four Rational People,” which looks at the Emerson String Quartet’s final performance.

More information about the films and ticket prices are at: cinematheque.cia.edu

At the Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street Akron, OH 44308):

One of the most acclaimed films of the year is the Canadian drama “Blue Herron,” it is the feature debut of Sophy Romvari, who gained attention for her short films.

They also will be playing the documentary “Steal This Story, Please,” which highlights independent investigative journalist Amy Goodman.

More Information about the films and ticket prices are at: nightlightcinema.com

This weekend there are a trio of new films opening in wide release: The first is one that I would recommend if you are a horror fan – “Obsession”. This film continues a trend where we are seeing Youtubers become filmmakers, in this case it is 26-year-old Curry Barker. This is a spin on “be careful what you wish for” when a young man makes a wish for his crush to love him more than anything else in the world, and it gets increasingly disturbing from there. I personally loved it and thought the performance from actress Inde Navarrette will make her a star.

“Is God Is” is a revenge tale which was based on an award-winning play by Alesha Harris. Harris makes her feature directorial debut and currently the film stands at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!

The other film opening is the latest from director Guy Ritchie, the action-thriller “In The Grey” with Jake Gyllenhall and Henry Cavill.

Rounding out this busy week are some anniversaries hitting screens in “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” for one week to commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of Tony Scott’s original, and the original “Shrek” is also playing for one week to commemorate its 25^th Anniversary (Anniversaries like this are making your resident movie nerd feel old!).

Lastly, I just wanted to wish congratulations to my longtime friend Dave Huffman, who has just been named the new director of The Cleveland Cinematheque! If you have ever attended some of the Late Shift Series back in the day at the Cedar Lee or Capitol, or the 12 Hours of Terror, you know that Dave is a huge cinephile and I am certain will do a great job at the Cinematheque!

Until next week my friends, see ya at the movies!

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