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Clemson star reverses field

At deadline, Davis put NFL on hold

CLEMSON, S.C. — It was the morning of Jan. 14 and Susan Spence had a stern reminder for her husband.

"She said, 'Don't you dare forget to call James Davis again. I've been praying about him,' " said Rob Spence, Clemson's offensive coordinator. "Actually, we had both been praying about James."

After his second consecutive 1,000-yard season in 2007, Davis, the running back who played at Douglass High in Atlanta, had announced in early January that he would pass up his senior season to enter the NFL draft. The deadline to file the paperwork was Jan. 15.

"Right after I made the decision, there was no doubt in my mind. I was gone," Davis said. "I had moved out of my apartment and was staying with friends. I was going back to Atlanta to start getting ready for the draft."

But as the deadline drew closer, Davis said the doubts began to creep in.

"I thought about how good a team we had coming back at Clemson and how good it would feel to win an ACC championship," he said. "I thought about getting my degree, which is something I always promised myself and my mother that I would do."

Davis also thought about the fact that he was projected as a third-round pick. Could he improve his status by going back to college and winning a conference championship or even a national championship?

That night, Davis finally talked to Spence.

"I told him that it was his decision and that I did not want to sway him one way or another," Spence said. "But I also told him that I wanted him back if he wanted to be back."

Davis spent the rest of the evening talking to his mother. He went to bed convinced that by the end of the next day his college career would be over.

"I don't know why, but I just woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning," Davis said. "I got up and washed my face and then it hit me: 'I've got to go back to school.' "

Davis called his mother immediately.

"She was so thrilled that she started waking up everybody in the house," Davis said. "Then I sent text messages to Coach Spence and Coach [Tommy] Bowden. I didn't want to wake them up."

"I would not mind it at all if James wakes me up with that kind of news," Bowden said. "That was a pretty good day for Clemson."

At that point, Clemson became the unanimous choice to win its first ACC championship since 1991. It's also fitting that Davis will play the first game of his senior season in Atlanta, where the Tigers will face Alabama on Saturday at the Georgia Dome.

Davis lost twice in Atlanta last year, first at Georgia Tech (13-3) on Sept. 29 and against Auburn (23-20 in overtime) on Dec. 31 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

"I'm about due for a win in Atlanta," Davis said.

The decision also meant that Clemson's "Thunder and Lightning" running duo of Davis and C.J. Spiller would remain intact for one more season.

"James coming back is huge," said Spiller, the "Lightning" part of the duo whose speed allowed him to rush for 768 yards last season. "I thought I was going to have to be the veteran guy by myself and help these young guys along. We're anxious to see what we can do with one more year together."

"This team is good enough to win a championship, and we want to do that," Davis said. "I have to believe that I was supposed to come back for a reason."

Tony Barnhart writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.