Cox could spark Davis run at national title

Jason Cox is back, and just in the nick of time.

Not that the UC Davis men's basketball team relies on one player to carry the load, or that without Cox the Aggies wouldn't have a chance to win the NCAA Division II national championship this week in Louisville, Ky.

But Cox, a post player who missed nine games earlier this season with a stress fracture in his right foot, gives Davis a much better chance to reach and win the title game Saturday.

As he prepares for Wednesday's opener against West Texas A&M, Aggies coach Bob Williams must be relieved to have Cox, considering how close the redshirt sophomore came to not being asked to play at Davis.

When Cox was a high school senior in San Diego, his uncle asked Williams through a mutual friend to take a look at a videotape of him. But when the Davis coaches saw the tape, Williams told his friend to forget about it -- the kid on the tape wasn't a very good athlete.

"My friend said that couldn't be," Williams recalled. "He said the kid won a dunking contest and he is an athlete. I told him the kid couldn't win a dunking contest from a mini-trampoline."

Williams, who had been foggy on Cox's name, soon learned he had the wrong tape.

Even then, Cox looked unremarkable for the first half of the taped game. "Jason played hard, ran hard, but he was nothing but a skinny 6-5 kid," Williams said.

Then came the second half.

"In a span of three minutes, Jason caught two lobs, one with his elbows above the rim, made two dunks and made this incredible spin move.. . . (I told my assistant) to get on the phone and get Jason on campus."

Cox decided to redshirt his first year. Two seniors, both shorter than Cox but much more physical, played ahead of him at center.

But last season, Cox started 25 of 28 games, and when the Aggies played their first game in the West Regional, losing to a very talented Grand Canyon team, Cox had 14 points, 10 on dunks.

"It was his first regional, playing as a freshman, and he showed a lot of people he could play with the best," Williams said. "He has a certain knack about him when he gets down on the baseline. There's not a whole lot of guys who can do the things he can do once he gets under the basket."

This season, before the start of Northern California Athletic Conference play, some coaches said they thought Cox would be the conference's MVP. And when the Aggies started 14-2 with Cox leading the team in scoring and rebounding, it appeared the MVP tag was justified.

Then Cox suffered the stress fracture Jan. 16. The Aggies won the next eight games while Cox sat, some not as handily as they might have with Cox.

"At first, when I had the walking cast on, it didn't hurt to sit because I knew there was nothing I could do," Cox said. "Then when I got the cast off and was in regular shoes and we started having close games, it hurt a little more because I knew I could be out there and have an effect on the team."

Cox's eagerness to return was hard both on him and Williams. The two didn't see eye to eye about Cox's readiness.

"I remember one day, after I began shooting around a little, I was walking fine," Cox said. "I wasn't jumping, but I was jogging a little and it felt fine. I thought, 'OK, wait until coach comes out and I will show him. I will run up to him and he will be real pleased.'

"But when he came through the door and I ran over to him, he went ballistic. He said, 'What are you doing? You are going to hurt yourself.' I was angry at him because I wanted to play. He was angry at me for what I did."

Said Williams: "Jason and I have had a very close relationship since he came here, (but) I had to sit on him pretty hard during that time."

Cox returned Feb. 13 but played mostly off the bench and usually less than half the game. He returned to the starting lineup in the opening-round West Regional game March 6 against Cal State Los Angeles, and in the championship game the next night against Seattle Pacific, he led the team with 20 points.

Cox gets a little embarrassed with all the recent attention as of late and the speculation that he may be the Aggies' savior.

"After I scored the 20 points in the championship game, I had a television camera in my face. The guy went on and on on how well I played, on how fortunate the Aggies were to have me back for the nationals," Cox said. "My teammates know I am just another player. I was flattered but flustered."

In fact, however, his teammates are willing to add to the hype.

"He's such a great player, defensively and offensively," said Chris Vlasic, one of Davis' senior captains. "If we make a mistake on defense, he is there to clog it up or change a shot or block it. Offensively, he can do anything on the court.

"He adds so many more dimensions to the team."