Former Trojans making their mark in college basketball
Published 10:11 am Thursday, February 16, 2023
- Former Charles Henderson star Maori Davenport played two years at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. (Photo courtesy of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Athletics)
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A number of former Charles Henderson Trojans and Lady Trojans are getting ready for the close of the 2022-2023 regular season in college basketball, with tournament season just around the corner.
Former Trojans Tay Knox, Akeives Shorts and Cody Youngblood are currently on junior college (JUCO) rosters, while Lady Trojans Tuti Jones and Maori Davenport are on Division I rosters.
Knox is a forward for JUCO power Chipola College and while it took time for the 6-foot-7-inch former All-State big man to crack the lineup, he’s earned a start in the last five straight games for the Indians.
He’s currently averaging 3.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game but has also totaled 20 blocks in the last eight games, averaging 2.5 blocks per game during that stretch. Knox earned a career-high 10 points, eight rebounds and one block against Southern Union earlier this year and tallied a career-high five blocks against Northwest Florida State on Feb. 11. Knox and Chipola are 26-2 on the season and are in first place of the Panhandle Conference.
![](https://www.troymessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2023/02/Tay-Knox.jpg?w=295)
Former Trojan Tay Knox has earned a start in the past five straight Chipola games. (Photo courtesy of Chipola College Athletics)
Shorts plays for Wallace Community College in Selma, while Youngblood is playing hoops in the Wiregrass for Enterprise State Community College. He’s averaging 4.1 points per game in 19 games with the Boll Weevils and scored a career-high 23 points against Calhoun earlier this season.
Davenport transferred to the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the offseason after spending her first three seasons at Rutgers and Georgia. The former Super All-State forward has started 11 games this season, averaging 8.8 points, 1.6 blocks and 6.5 rebounds per game at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
She earned a career-high 19 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks against Philadner Smith this season, along with tallying 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks against Southern Union. Davenport has five double-doubles on the season and over the past three games is averaging 13.7 points, six rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
Davenport’s former teammate at CHHS, Tuti Jones, came into 2023 fresh off All-OVC and OVC Defensive Player of the Year honors last season. In the first eight games, Jones averaged 11 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.25 steals per game. She scored a season-high 16 points on Nov. 25, 2022, against Villanova but hasn’t been able to play since Dec. 4, 2022.
Tournaments across both the NJCAA and NCAA begin in March.