Going Deep: Davison receives warm welcome at Mac Hall of Fame banquet

His return trip for the 30th annual Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet on Oct. 24 turned into quite the memorable experience.

“Much more than I expected,” said Davison, a 1961 Falls High School graduate who was one of five inductees into the Macalester Athletic Hall of Fame.

Davison carried his superb basketball skills from International Falls to Macalester in the fall of ’61. He was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman Player of the Year in 1962, and made the all-conference team that same season after leading the Scots in scoring and rebounding.

He led the Scots in the same two categories again as a senior, earning All-MIAC honors in ’65, and finished his career with 1,118 points, which is No. 8 on the school’s all-time list. His 17.6 career points per game average is the second highest in school history.

And to think, Davison nearly committed to the University of Minnesota Duluth.

“But somehow that got lost,” he said. “It didn’t develop.”

That’s when Tom Bergstedt, the Broncos head coach from 1952-64, contacted Macalester coach Doug Bolstorff about giving Davison a shot.

“Doug offered me a chance to play basketball there and I took it,” said Davison, who was coming off an impressive career at FHS.

Only four teams have reached the region/section final in Broncos boys basketball history, dating back to 1916, and Davison was on two of them — the 1958-59 and 1960-61 squads. In three years playing varsity basketball, Davison’s teams finished 50-15. He also fit in varsity football and baseball, as well.

“I got along very well,” Davison said about his career at Macalester. “Coaches were nice and it was a big experience for me coming out of the Falls and going to St. Paul.”

Davison and his wife, Carolyn, arrived in St. Paul for the Hall of Fame festivities on Friday, Oct. 23. He was invited to practice Saturday morning by current head basketball coach Tim Whittle, and the team had a surprise waiting. The current Scots presented a booklet to Davison — autographed by the team — of all the newspaper clippings they could find from The Mac Weekly back when Davison was in school.

Davison later received a large glass Hall of Fame plaque and a yearbook from 1965, the year he graduated, which became even more memorable for the former Bronco, because he had lost most of his Macalester memorabilia.

“I had quite a day. My goodness gracious,” he said.

Davison was the first Hall of Famer to speak at the banquet, which his entire family attended, along with Bolstorff, his former coach, who Davison hadn’t seen in 20-25 years. Davison also had a few teammates in attendance.

“It was pretty classy,” Davison said. “They said it was the largest attendance they ever had, so they were happy with it, too.”

Going deeper ...

• Ryan Cramer (FHS ’04) and the Bemidji State University men’s hockey team made history Sunday with a win against the University of Minnesota.

Bemidji State, who joins the Western Collegiate Hockey Association next season, scored three goals in a span of 1:26 of the third period and coasted to a 6-2 win over the Gophers. It was the first win ever by the Beavers (8-1-1) over the WCHA’s Gophers after seven straight losses, including Saturday’s 4-1 setback at Mariucci Arena.

“It’s a monumental win. (Minnesota) is one of the premier teams in the country and obviously Minnesota’s Pride on Ice,” Beavers head coach Tom Serratore said on the team’s Web site. “Anytime you can win a game in this building you take it. Mariucci Arena is a very difficult place to play. I am very proud of our guys.”

Cramer didn’t record a point over the weekend against the Gophers, but sits tied for eighth on the team in scoring with four points (3G, A) in 10 games.

BSU is also ranked No. 2 in the Pairwise rankings, behind Miami and ahead of Michigan State.

• The University of Nebraska-Omaha is ranked No. 17 in the Pairwise rankings, with head coach Dean Blais (FHS grad) leading the Mavericks to a 5-2-3 record. UNO is sixth in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

• Jake Youso (FHS ’08) has 12 points (5G, 7A) and 28 penalty minutes in 17 games with Owatonna Express of the North American Hockey League. The Express opened the season 0-5, but have rebounded and sport a 7-8 record through 15 contests.

• Ty Boyle (FHS ’06) was recently named to the first team of the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII football team. The University of North Dakota, for the second year in a row, had six student-athletes land on the list.

Boyle, an economics major, was named 2008 All-Great West Conference honorable mention and earned GWC Academic All-Conference honors.

In order to be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination.

• Andrea Millerbernd (L-BF ’06) and the College of St. Benedict’s volleyball season came to an abrupt end a week ago today when Luther College upset the Blazers 3-2 in the NCAA Division III Regional Quarterfinals.

The Blazers (26-6) where the No. 2 seed, while Luther was No. 7.

Millerbernd, a two-year captain, recorded eight digs and an ace serve in the match.

It was the third straight regional quarterfinals for St. Ben’s, which advanced all the way to the Elite 8 last season.