The sequel is “Love & Basketball.”
This time, children were also involved.
Meet Dre Davis and Mikia Keith, a couple who are raising a baby girl and playing college basketball. If you think managing a school or Division 1 sport is tough, imagine adding being a parent into the mix.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I’m just trying to stick to that mindset and find a way to get it done,” said Davis, Seton Hall’s star wing, who will face the fourth-seeded Pirates in the Big East on Thursday. – Speaking ahead of the tournament quarterfinal match against No. 5 St. John’s. “It’s been an incredibly blessed journey. I’m so happy and motivated to become a father.”
The Indianapolis natives make it look like it’s easy.
Davis is enjoying the best season of his four-year college career, averaging a career-high 14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and a career-high 32.1 minutes per game that stunned Seton Hall.
Keith capped off a stellar career at SIU Edwardsville and then St. Peter’s, where he finished the season in the MAAC Tournament on Tuesday.
Their daughter, 1-year-old Maria, had a front row seat to both of her parents’ games.
When Davis, 22, has a game and Keith doesn’t, she brings Maria to the arena. When both are active, Maria goes to St. Peter’s and the team manager takes care of her if her parents are not available.
“I can only describe it as crazy,” Keith said. “A lot of time management, scheduling, running to Seton Hall right after practice, and Dre dropping Maria off at St. Peter’s right before practice.
“It will be truly miraculous to look back and be able to say, ‘We really did it.’ The most important thing for us is to make Maria proud and to be able to do it if she wanted to.” I want to be an example that anything is possible.”
The two knew each other while growing up in Indianapolis, but didn’t get together until their college days, when Davis was at Louisville and Keith was at SIU Edwardsville.
However, this was not planned. Keith found out he was pregnant in late November 2021, the day after a blowout win against Butler in which he scored 17 points. She had no idea what she wanted to do.
Keith called Davis, who was in the Bahamas for a tournament. he was excited.
“I was the one who was scared,” she recalls. “He gave it his all and was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be a father, let’s do it.'”
When Keith, 24, learned that Maria could finish the season without putting her at any health risk, the couple jumped straight into raising the child. She took a year off from her school last year to spend time with Davis in New Jersey.
She then used her final year of eligibility to transfer to St. Peter’s University.
It was all made possible by a large support system involving their parents, grandparents, and the coaching staffs of both teams.
Davis’ parents, Karlonda and D’Andre, moved into the same apartment building in Harrison, New Jersey, to help the couple. Her parents, Nicole and Floyd, also spent much time in New Jersey.
Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway also has a babysitter. His youngest son Tyson and Malia became friends.
“This was literally a village,” Davis said. “It’s difficult, but it’s doable. We’ve done it. We’ve had incredible support from everyone in our circle. Without that, we wouldn’t be in this position.” I guess.”
A typical day without help would be for Keith to wake up at 5 a.m. and take Maria to morning practice, where she would stand her daughter courtside with toys, snacks, and an iPad in her crib. It was called.
She stays with her until Davis returns home from class and practice around 6 p.m. Being his devoted father, he took over from there and made sure his girlfriend could catch up on her homework.
It’s a true partnership.
“You can tell that guy just by sitting on the floor that he’s tough. That’s what his life is like. He’s tough,” Keith said. She also does her 30-hour-a-week job virtually as a project manager for the American College of Sports Medicine. “It’s not easy being a father and being the great father that you are. He’s so involved in her life. He knows how to do her hair when he’s at home. I spend bath time with her every night and she’s a very supportive partner.”
For now, the family’s future is uncertain.
Davis has one more year of eligibility that he can use or the senior can begin his professional career. Keith, who has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and is pursuing her MBA at St. Peter’s University, hopes to work in the basketball field. But they are focused on the present.
As long as Seton Hall is selected as expected, Keith plans to have his daughter attend this week’s Big East Tournament and then the NCAA Tournament. Neither has ever participated in March Madness before.
“It would be beautiful, wouldn’t it? I might cry because he’s been trying so hard and was almost a freshman,” Keith said. She said, “I think it would be great for Maria to look back on her past and know that she was part of all these great things.”
Even if the ball stops bouncing for them, it’s hard to imagine that basketball will stop for the family.
Their apartment has a baby hoop, and Maria likes to shoot on it using both hands.
“It’s in her blood,” Davis said.
