Big 22: Hough High’s Davion Jones

Channel 9’s Big Player to Watch, Hough High School senior safety Davion Jones, knows how to flip the switch on game day. But away from the football field, the future Gamecock is known for his laid-back personality.

>>Big 22: Hough High’s Davion Jonesto check out Channel 9’s High School Football Page

Some of that laid-back approach, Jones says, comes from his aunt and uncle, who work as yoga therapists and life coaches. He began practicing yoga regularly as a freshman, and he said the discipline has helped him stay calm and focused. Jones told Channel 9 that sense of composure often carries over to the game.

“Definitely, like overtime games, games, like times where we need to stop, we need to score. Just things like that. The heat of the moment,” Jones said.

He wears jersey No. 14. The number once belonged to his friend, Gregory Holmes, who lost his life to gun violence when he was 14 years old.

Jones started wearing the No. 14 jersey the next season.

Wearing the jersey gives him comfort.

“I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to shut down,” he said. “But then I would start to think it to myself, and I had a conversation with my family. And it was like, would he want you to shut down and go into your little bubble? So, it was ‘no.’ And so, I’d just play football for him with a chip on my shoulder.”

We’re profiling 22 players every weekday until voting for our five finalists on Sept. 4. Tune into Channel 9 each day to see local stars featured.

Channel 9 hosts Big 22 Media Day for young athletes