Before Kelsey Mitchell scored 45 points against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, freshman center Jessica Davenport was making life difficult on Ohio’s neighbor to the east. On March 20, 2004, exactly 12 years before Mitchell’s downhill scoring day, Davenport had a performance that was quality over quantity when the Columbus native introduced herself on the biggest stage — March Madness.
Davenport came from the Southeast side of Columbus, as a standout for Independence High School. The No. 2 recruit in the 2003 recruiting class was basketball obsessed in the latter years of high school, but heading into high school, Davenport felt pressured to play. Standing at 6-foot-5, Davenport was constantly asked “do you play basketball?”
“The pressure was annoying at times because everywhere I went people would ask me if I played basketball,” said Davenport. “Once I really got into playing the game and developed a winning attitude, I realized playing basketball would take me somewhere. That’s when I started to like it and eventually love it.”
Like most star high school players, Davenport played AAU ball on the amateur level and that took her around the country to play in tournaments. That experience confirmed to Davenport that she did not want to be far away from her family, so Ohio State was the obvious choice.
When Davenport joined the program, the Buckeyes were on a cold spell in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. Since the 1993 season ended in grand fashion, going up against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA Final, Ohio State made the NCAA Tournament only three times in the next 10 seasons.
Ohio State was also on a 10-season stretch without a Big Ten conference or tournament title. Davenport was the first marquee recruit for head coach Jim Foster, who ran the program started one year before Davenport arrived on campus.
