Loy Norrix Career Prepped Crocker for U-M Success, Law Degree Pursuit
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
July 29, 2021
KALAMAZOO — After graduating from University of Michigan in 2018, Davis Crocker suddenly found himself surrounded by green, white and Spartys.
With a degree in sports management from the Maize and Blue, Crocker is currently enrolled at Michigan State University’s College of Law in East Lansing.
“The first few months with all the green and Spartan heads, it’s a little bit of a culture shock,” Crocker, 25, said, laughing.
“I get the occasional comments every now and then. I try to be respectful.”
He has some backup. His brother, Reed, is on the MSU tennis team.
The Loy Norrix alumnus credits his four years playing high school tennis as “the kickstart to everything at Michigan and at law school now, balancing tennis and school with the team aspect, the coaches, the teammates.
“It laid the foundation for who I am now. My work ethic and leadership stem from that time.”
While many top tennis players opt out of high school tennis to concentrate on USTA tournaments, Crocker combined the two.
He said three things influenced his decision.
“First, that team aspect,” he said. “I think that’s so valuable. I played team sports when I was a kid, but when I just focused on tennis there weren’t as many opportunities for that. I enjoyed that aspect.
“Two, I felt I needed to give back to the school in some way. They were very flexible with my travel, my practicing and everything. I felt like doing things under their name was probably not enough, but at least a little bit.”
The third was that he just enjoyed being around the guys and going on road trips.
“The winning helped,” he added, laughing.
Winning, indeed.
He ended his high school career with some impressive numbers, enough to earn him the Michigan Mr. Tennis Award his senior year, when he went undefeated at 30-0.
His four-year record was 108-9, with seven of those losses his freshman year.
Loy Norrix did not qualify for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Championships as a team those four years, but Crocker did individually and won the No. 1 singles title his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.
“When I won the state championship that third time (in 2013), that meant a lot out of the three,” he said, reminiscing. “The guy I played in the finals ended up playing at Arizona State.”
Crocker, the top seed, defeated second-seeded William Kirkman from Midland Dow, 6-3, 6-1.
Telling defeat
Art Williams, who coached the team all four years, said one moment was indicative of Crocker’s work ethic.
“During Regionals of his junior year, Davis was rolling through the draw as usual. On the final day, in the final No. 1 singles match, Davis struggled with his opponent,” Williams recalled.
“I rarely had to coach Davis through a defeat; it just rarely happened. But on this day something was off. His father told me Davis was dealing with a very upset stomach.”
Williams said Crocker made no excuses, but after losing that match took the time to walk to the net to shake his opponent’s hand.
“The story does have a happy ending though,” Williams added. “Even with the loss, Davis still qualified for the state tournament and proceeded to win his second state title by defeating the very same player (Portage Central’s Billy Heckman) he lost to just two weeks before.”
That Regional loss was Crocker’s last defeat of his high school career.
Crocker graduated early from Loy Norrix in January 2014 and headed to University of Michigan that same month.
He said high school tennis prepared him for a much different type of tennis in college.
“It helped a lot because college took the team part to even more of an extreme,” he said. “In high school, you’re only together for three or four months, then you see each other in the hallway.
“In college it’s pretty much year round. You’re either communicating or practicing or competing. I think just laying that (high school) groundwork made the transition easier.”
He said he is happy he had that extra semester at Michigan before actually competing.
“The levels were higher. With my teammates, I’m not the top guy any more. I’m just one of 12,” Crocker said. “There are no easy games at that level. You have to bring your ‘A’ game every time.”
By his senior year, Crocker was an ITA Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten doubles indoor champion with Harry Brown and co-captain of the tennis team.
While at U-M, he spent three seasons as assistant to Loy Norrix coach Bill Jenkins and, before entering law school, spent a year as an instructor at West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo.
After playing so much tennis, Crocker took a break from sports.
“I was mentally done with it, but now I feel ready to play a little more and be involved with the community,” he said.
“These last six months I started hitting a bit and training a little more. I did a couple tournaments recently.”
Following family traditions
Crocker’s dad, grandfather and uncle are U-M grads, and his great-great-grandfather graduated from what was then the Detroit College of Law.
Currently, his dad and uncle are partners in Crocker & Crocker, a law firm started by his grandfather in Kalamazoo.
“I was always in that (law) environment when I was a kid,” Crocker said. “It lines up with all my interests like reading and writing and history. With sports business, I would like to do something potentially with sports and the law.
“I’ve also thought about compliance or something like that with the NCAA, which has changed a lot even since I first got into law school.”
He also has been working with his dad in telecommunications law.
“There are so many different areas that it can be overwhelming,” Crocker said. “I’ll sort that out in the next year and a half (before graduation).”
As for high school, Crocker has some advice for those in any sport:
“When you first begin, don’t be overwhelmed by the situation, just embrace it. You will look fondly back, even on those times when you are maybe teased by the older guys. You appreciate it later on because you grow so much from it.”
2020-21 Made in Michigan
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June 28: Michigan's Minor Leaguers Making Up for Lost Season - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Three-time MHSAA Finals tennis champion Davis Crocker has begun playing competitively again while also working toward a law degree. (Middle) Crocker unleashes a serve during his No. 1 singles title match in 2013. (Below) Crocker stands at the scoreboard during his championship match at the 2012 LP Division 2 Finals. (Top photo by Pam Shebest; middle and below photos by High School Sports Scene.)
Westwood Reaches Every Flight Final in Retaking UPD2 Championship
By
Travis Nelson
Special for Second Half
June 2, 2022
ISHPEMING – On its home courts, the host Westwood boys tennis team claimed the Upper Peninsula Division 2 title by winning four flights and making the finals in all eight Thursday afternoon.
Westwood won the tournament going away with 20 points, while second place Munising’s 12 and third place Iron Mountain’s 10 provided the most turbulence. The Mustangs and Mountaineers both had two winners and four finalists. West Iron County came in fourth with six points, Ishpeming had three and Gwinn rounded out the six teams with one point.
Westwood had last won the Finals title in 2019 and finished runner-up to West Iron last season.
“We were lucky that we had everybody in the finals, which is half of the battle at UPs – getting there,” Westwood coach Sarah Massie said. “We’re happy to see everybody be able to make it there even though we weren’t necessarily favored once we were in the finals in all of the spots. Everybody played hard today, and there were some close matches that we had to get through.”
The Patriots scored victories in No. 3 and No. 4 singles, along with No. 3 and No. 4 doubles. In one of the knockout, drag-out matches that Massie referenced, Patrick Klumpp had to survive his semifinal before advancing and winning the No. 3 singles flight. Klumpp defeated Ethan Isaacson of West Iron County with the help of a tiebreaker in the second set before cruising for the title in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Munising’s Cole Whitehead.
“It’s been a rough season here and there, but today I felt great,” Klumpp said. “I love this sport, it’s fun, there’s always good competition, and it’s fun to be a part of a team.”
Westwood’s other singles winner Mason Hietikko had a bit of a different path on the way to his No. 4 singles victory. After starting the season at doubles and struggling, he made the move to singles and didn’t look back. In the final, Hietikko scooted past Iron Mountain’s Reece Kangas for the 6-1, 6-2 win.
“I think it’s amazing,” Hietikko said. “Coming out here and winning my flight is an amazing feeling. Being consistent, and not making stupid mistakes and getting in my head, was a perfect way to win.”
John Thomsen and Nick Salzwedel pulled out the No. 3 doubles win for Westwood after knocking off Munising’s Danny Goss and Aidan Gumz in the only three-set finals match 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Rounding out the Patriots’ four victories, Jayce Patron and Mitchell Ford defeated Iron Mountain’s Dylan Kingren and Carter Kassin in No. 4 doubles 6-4, 7-5.
Westwood won both girls and boys tennis titles this school year, dating back to the girls’ Division 1 victory in September. The success of the program as of late hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s furthermore setting things up for the Patriots in the future.
“It’s fun to see, and it’s good for our community, and just tennis as a whole for the girls and boys to see success,” Massie said. “We just started a middle school program, so for those kids to see the high schoolers and the kids that they look up to, is just good for our tennis program and for the game of tennis.”
Munising galloped to win the other two doubles flights on the way to their second-place finish. The No. 1 doubles team for the Mustangs of Alex Vandzandt and Lucas Westcomb defeated Westwood’s Ryan LaFountain and Chase Prophet 6-2, 6-3. The pair are good friends and graduating together this year, and also won a U.P. Finals championship after not having a team for the past two seasons.
“It feels great honestly just coming out here after two years of not playing. Becoming U.P. champions is a great feeling,” Vandzandt said. “We had to search and search for a coach. Abbie Hayes came out. She’s only 20 years old, she’s still going to college, she worked hard to get to all of our practices. I’m glad we could be here, and I’m glad that a couple of our teammates could be U.P. champions.”
Munising’s No. 2 doubles team of Jesse Duran and Carson Kienitz also prevailed with a tight 6-4, 7-5 win over Westwood’s Gabe Tossava and Zak Senske. With a new core of players on the team, especially for those seniors who haven’t played in two years, the Mustangs did more than show up at U.P. Finals.
“It was very nerve-racking, but we tried to keep our cool, and keep the ball in,” Westcomb said. “We just had to get back in our groove and get back those skills from our freshman year, and get the hang of everything.”
Iron Mountain also produced a pair of winners atop of the singles flights. David Juul ended his strong season with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Westwood’s Andrew Niemi in the No. 1 singles finale. The senior’s search for that elusive U.P. championship came to a close after falling short in his previous tries.
“I thought my backhand was on; I had a lot of kill shots with my backhand,” Juul said. “My first serve was going in a lot, so I was very happy. It feels good to get the win. Andrew (Niemi) played really well, and it was a fun match to play in.”
Brenden LaPoint was victorious at No. 2 singles for the Mountaineers with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Westwood’s Bryce Markham. LaPoint had been out most of the season with a foot injury, and he doubted that he would be able to play at all this season. With the injury still nagging him in recent weeks before getting fully healed a week ago, LaPoint’s win wasn’t as ordinary as others.
“I really wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to UPs this season with my foot injury,” LaPoint said. “It was good to be able to get back for UPs and take home the championship.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming Westwood's Bryce Markham returns a volley during a No. 2 singles match Thursday. (Middle) Iron Mountain's David Juul sends a shot at No. 1 singles on the way to winning his flight. (Photos by Travis Nelson.)