Davidson attributes success to Army, Fort Polk upbringing

FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES

10.16.2020

Story by Chuck Cannon 

Fort Johnson Public Affairs Office

FORT POLK, La. — When Angela Davidson was 11 years old, her mother, Leah, married Davidson’s stepfather, Jerome Poole, when the latter was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Shortly after the wedding, the now Army Family received orders for Fort Polk, Louisiana.
“I thought this was going to be the worst possible thing,” Davidson said. “But it wound up being the best.”
Davidson, who is now head coach of the Dallas Skyline men’s basketball team, said everything she learned that prepared her for where she finds herself today can be traced back to Fort Polk.
“Living at Fort Polk brought a whole new level of structure to my life,” Davidson said. “Since we lived on post and I had a military ID card, I could play basketball in all the gyms, where it was safe, and against Soldiers who gave me a level of toughness I would not have ordinarily had.”
Davidson said she became an anomaly on Fort Polk in the early 1990s and developed a reputation as a tough player who could hold her own against older competitors.
“When I started at Leesville High School, everyone embraced me,” she said. “I was the Leesville Lions Club Player of the Year in 1998, my senior year, and all-state, all-district and an all-American candidate.”
With those honors came scholarship offers from schools such as Louisiana State University and the University of Mississippi’s Ole Miss Athletics. Deciding she wanted to see what the world outside of Louisiana looked like, Davidson said she chose Ole Miss, in Oxford, Mississippi.
“I thought I wanted to see more and play in the Southeastern Conference, which was the best women’s college conference at the time,” she said. “Then, I would go on to play professional ball.”
After a year in Mississippi, Davidson said she decided Louisiana was not so bad after all. She transferred to Northwestern State University, which she said was a natural choice.
“I was already familiar with NSU because of its Fort Polk campus, and a lot of my friends from high school were going there,” she said.
While at NSU, the accolades poured in for the Leesville graduate. Despite missing six games as a sophomore with a foot stress fracture, she earned a spot on the All-Southland Conference second team and third-team all-Louisiana. During her career at NSU, she was named Southland Conference Player of the Year, All-Louisiana and All Southland Conference. She was also named to the Southland Conference All-Decade Team for 2000-2010.
Following her college career, Davidson, who earned degrees in Psychology and English at NSU, played a year in Europe, then a second year in the National Women’s Basketball League.
“I then started a youth sports non-profit and began coaching,” she said. “Eventually, I wound up as the director of player development for Mark Cuban’s Basketball Academy.”
Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team.
Her passion for coaching led to her current position as coach of a men’s professional team.
“One of my former players owns the Dallas Skyline,” she said. “I groomed him as a sports agent. When he bought the team, he asked if I wanted to be part owner and head coach. I jumped at the opportunity.”
Davidson said she has yet to receive resistance to being a coach in a men’s league.
“I think players are OK with it,” she said. “But some will probably come from other coaches. That is when the hammer might come down, like, ‘Who does she think she is?’ But when it comes to game time, I’m going to get it done, and I will probably step on some toes.”
She does not see her current position as the apex of her career.
“I’m a door opener, and if a door at the next level opens, I’ll go through it,” she said. “But it would have to be something wise, like Dallas; I’d be open to that.”
Davidson said as she thinks back on her life, it’s easy to see the military — and Fort Polk — played significant roles.
“My foundation is based on my Family’s military background,” she said.
“The way you must conduct yourself as a military Family ingrains a strong work ethic; and I attribute my work ethic to growing up at Fort Polk with an Army background. It went a long way in determining who I am.”

• Date Taken: 10.16.2020
• Date Posted: 10.19.2020 11:07
• Story ID: 381210
• Location: FORT POLK, LA, US