“At Davidson, we were students first and then athletes”: When Stephen Curry reminisced about his college days with the Wildcats

Golden State Warriors MVP Stephen Curry explained how “humbling” his college experience with the Davidson Wildcats actually was.

Stephen Curry is amongst the best NBA players, probably of all time. There is absolutely no doubt that Steph is the greatest shooter ever. Even defenders are left speechless after the surreal long-ranged three-point shots he so casually knocks down.

Curry has been balling his mind out as soon as he entered the league as a 21-year-old. Over the course of his career till now, the Golden State Warriors leader has managed to win 2 MVPs, 3 championships, dropped 2,832 three-pointers, torched almost every team he’s played against, and put himself in the “top-15 all-time players” conversation.

Any die-hard Stephen Curry fan would know that Steph has been so sensational even before he joined the league in 2009. From 2006-09, Chef Curry was part of the Davidson Wildcats program. Even though he was a scrawny 6-footer during his final teen years, he was on a tear during his three-year stint with Davidson. Averaging 25.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists on an incredible 46/41/87 shooting splits, the Baby-Faced Assassin is one of the top-most college players as well.

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Stephen Curry talks about his experience with the Davidson Wildcats

Back in 2019, Curry sat with “The Players’ Tribune” and recollected a few moments from his Davidson days and explained why the entire program was a “humbling” one.

“I remember how…… humble our whole experience was at Davidson.”

“Which, first of all, is funny — because it’s really nice now. Like, for real: if you’re reading this, go to Davidson. It’s an amazing school with an amazing hoops program. But back when I got there, what I mostly remember is just how loud and clear we all got the message that, you know — we were not playing Big-Time College Hoops. Man, like, we were STUDENT athletes. Size 100 font STUDENT, size 12 font athlete. We were “cool, how you hoop and everything…. but I’m going to need that Philosophy paper” athletes.”

“It’s love, though. Going to Davidson, and playing — and winning — at that level of hoops…… it made me who I am, in a way. It made me understand what it means to build something. Like, truly build something. Something that no one can ever take away from you. Something that’s all your own.”

“And it’s interesting — what I’ll remember most about my time as a Wildcat? I’m sure everyone probably figures it’s our win over Wisconsin in the Sweet Sixteen, or even our game vs. Kansas in the Elite Eight. But it’s actually neither of those.”

“It’s a memory from right in between them. I was coming back from dinner, after practice — the night before we played Kansas. Just walking down the hall. And it was the strangest thing ever: I turned the corner down the hallway…. and I ran into about half the team. The guys were sitting there, right on the floor, with their warm-ups on and their clunky 2007 laptops out. Like, this bunch of dudes that had just given back-to-back whoopings to Georgetown and Wisconsin. Sitting on the floor, typing away.”

“And I’m like, “Umm…. what are y’all doing?” The whole group of them answer at the same time: “MIDTERMS.” No, for real. That’s a true story. It’s 12 hours to the Elite Eight, 12 hours to the biggest game of any of our lives — and those boys were literally writing term papers in the hallway. Straight up GRINDING in the Word doc.”

“Man, I love Davidson with all my heart.”

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