But when Davis and the Elephants take the court Saturday night against Central Gwinnett to open their 2003-04 season, Davis said the same-old feeling is sure to be there.
"I've already got the same butterflies I used to get before the start of the season and games. I'm ready to get the season going already," he said.
It's been four years since Davis has patrolled the Gainesville sideline. He "retired" after the 1999-2000 season after 23 seasons at the school.
He decided to come back this season after Virgil Amey, who took over for Davis, decided to go back to school with the goal of becoming a school administrator.
Davis said at the time he missed the game and that it was time to come back and there was no better place than where he won 515 games at Gainesville in his first stint as coach, including two Class AAA titles in 1983 and 1984.
This year Davis has a talented but somewhat untested squad. Two of their top three scorers graduated last year - Brandon Sims and Aaron Wilmont - and two starters.
And starting off with Central Gwinnett, which is projected to have a shot at the Region 8B-AAAAA title this year, is one way for Davis to examine just what he has.
"I'm optimistic that we'll have good team by the end of the year," he said. "But we're going to be looking at rotations and try to find the best chemistry for us to be successful. I will be evaluating what we have the first few games more than trying to just win games. but, of course, that's always our goal."
Davis said his probable starting lineup would be returning starters Brent Benson, a 6-foot senior and 5-10 sophomore Corey Wilmont at guard, and 6-4 senior Jon Mark Owings at center. Jeremy Little, a 6-7 senior, and James Chester, a 6-3 senior, should get the start at the forward positions.
But Davis said a half-dozen others will see significant playing time and could start. At guard, the Elephants also have 5-10 sophomore Tavious Pittman and 5-8 freshman Jamarko Warren. At forward, 6-4 sophomore Kenji Cobb, 6-3 junior Tyler Musselwhite, and 6-2 sophomore Chaz Smith will see action. Byron Williams, a 6-6 sophomore, will fill in at center.
"We have a lot of talent. The challenge will be finding what roles fit who best and then getting everyone on the same page," Davis said. "But, we have 12, maybe even 13 players who can play. That's always a good problem to have.
"Our goal is to be a championship caliber team by the end of the year. That's always been the goal here at Gainesville."
During Amey's stewardship, the Elephants won three region championships and went to the Final Four twice in his three years. But any talk of championships always brings around discussion of the Elephants' arch-nemesis, East Hall.
"They're the defending state champs and they're probably going to be even better this year. It's always been a good rivalry and that I'm sure will continue. The road goes through them and we're ready for the challenge," Davis said.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/11/168698