'Baby D' Davenport to join ODU football team

Dominik Davenport, known in local football circles as Baby D, has left West Virginia University and says he will enroll in spring semester classes at Old Dominion, where he hopes to make an impact on the Monarchs' defensive front and dreams of making the playoffs this year.

"Hopefully we can do that," the 6-foot-1, 264-pounder said. The Monarchs "were 9-2 last year, and I think we can have an even better record this year."

Davenport redshirted this past fall at West Virginia and will have four years of eligibility at ODU.

Davenport was a staple of the Phoebus Phantoms' defensive front and a big part of their Division 5 state championship run in 2008. The all-state selection signed with West Virginia, but the distance from home coupled with where he was on the Mountaineers' depth chart sent him in search of a better circumstance.

"They're playing a three-man front at West Virginia and had me at nose guard," Davenport said. "And the coaches told me it was going to be another year before I really played. They had Chris Neild playing nose guard, and he's basically their guy."

Even then, Davenport would have had to contend with Josh Taylor, who will be a junior in the upcoming season, at the back-up slot.

At ODU, Davenport will reconnect with former Phoebus teammates Reid Evans and Markell Wilkins, as well as incoming freshman Paul Morant, who has committed to sign with ODU next month.

Monarchs coach Bobby Wilder said he was "excited" about getting Davenport, who is slotted at defensive tackle heading into spring workouts.

"When he came out of high school, he was out of our reach as a recruit," Wilder said. "He was a BCS guy and we didn't have a chance. Knowing that somebody like Baby D likes what we're getting done here and wants to be a part of it makes us very happy."

Rich Radford, (757)-446-2463, rich.radford@pilotonline.com