Red Knights’ Xavier Davis has painted a lasting image

Xavier Davis does his best work in, and around, the paint.

On the basketball court he has often been, at 6-2, undersized playing center for Reading High. He regularly goes against basketball players four, six, even eight inches taller yet manages to compete with them by being fundamentally sound, mentally tough and unrelenting in his approach. He’ll outwork his opponent in the post area no matter how much bigger or talented they may be.

Off the court Davis has used the same methods to create a business customizing sneakers. He’s admittedly not a natural artist and hasn’t had formal training but he watched and learned and taught himself the craft.

Now he turns old sneakers into works of arts, creating smiles and a little cash through his business, X_9designs.

“I do it because I love it, and I love the reactions I get from others,” said Davis, the Senior Class president at Reading High, a team captain, and a driving force on the Red Knights’ Berks Conference and District 3 championship team.

Teammates, classmates and others have hired him to turn their worn sneakers, or a new pair, into something special. He has obliged, creating colorful, upbeat and unique designs that look almost too good to take out onto the street.

“People have really gravitated not only to the product, but the personality behind it,” said Red Knights basketball coach Rick Perez. “He puts his vision on it. People love his product. He’s done an amazing job with it.”

Many of Davis’ creations are painted red and black, the Red Knights’ colors, and are adorned with a Reading High logo. Others include inspirational messages, sports team logos, names or initials.

Perez often wears them on the sidelines during games. Davis made a pair for Dr. James Goodhart, the former Reading superintendent and president of the Red Knights’ Squires Club.

“Whatever they want, I’ll take care of it,” Davis said of his designs. “It makes them feel good, so it makes me feel good.”

Shoe design is a way for Davis to combine his interests in sports and business and move forward with his life plan: He eventually wants to own his own business designing and or retailing shoes or clothing, or both.

He’ll head to the University of Tampa later this year and double-major in finance and entrepreneurship.

Xavier Davis is that kid who set up the lemonade stand on the sidewalk on hot summer days.

He’s always hustling, looking to make an honest buck. He had his first formal job at 14, flipping burgers at McDonald’s. He later worked at Dick’s Sporting Goods as a footwear sales associate. He’s worked in retail at Wal-Mart. He worked at DoubleTree Hotel as a breakfast server; his shift started at 5 a.m.

“My parents, they work really hard for me and my little sister,” said Davis, mature beyond his years. “They always did the best they could to provide for us. I didn’t have the best sneakers, or the newest phone, but they always made sure I had clothes on my back, a roof over my head, food in my stomach.

“Anything that I wanted that wasn’t a necessity, I would have to get myself. I understood materialistic things aren’t a priority but if I want it and I like something, then I have to work for it.”

And he has.

He spent hours last summer at City Park providing basketball lessons for city youths. The program was called: “Kickin’ It With X.”

He’d have as many as 15 kids at a workout; he instructed them on footwork, form shooting and defensive techniques, passing along the skills he learned in the Reading program and has exhibited as a starter his final three seasons He has played a state champion, two district champs and a county champ.

Parents paid him whatever they could afford for the lessons; Davis was fine with that. He was fulfilled by giving back.

“I was working with the kids in Reading that look up to us (as Reading players),” he said. “I remember as a kid, that’s all I wanted to do is be like those guys that played at the high school. I was itching for an opportunity to be able to work with those guys, and be able to talk to them.

“I love working with kids that love to work, because that’s how I am,” he said. “That’s how I always have been.”

Davis’ work ethic helped him become an overachiever with the Red Knights. He learned how to study his opponents in order to prepare for playing bigger guys. He went head-to-head against Pocono Mountain West’s 6-10 Christian Fermin in December and didn’t bat an eye.

He didn’t concern himself with Fermin’s rep; he just concentrated on proper positioning to keep the big guy away from the basket and take away the spots he preferred to shoot from.

“My whole thing is, he bleeds the same blood I do,” Davis said after the matchup. “There’s nothing that I’m scared of, or that will intimidate me when I’m going against anyone. I’m able to hold my ground against anyone. I pride myself on making sure that I can guard one-thru-five (guards, forwards or centers). I’m versatile so that wherever my team needs me to be, I can be there.”

Reading beat West 62-50. Afterward Davis said he wasn’t aware of Fermin’s All-State honors or status as a Division I recruit.

“We just look at him as a jersey on a team and we try to make sure whoever we play against that we’re taking advantage of the advantages and disadvantages that we have.”

Davis will spend up to six hours restoring a pair of sneakers. Often they need to be cleaned and repaired, then prepped for the paint. It’s a multistage production that can take days. He fits that in between studying for his AP classes and preparing for the next game. It’s not uncommon for him to show up for practice with paint stains on his hands or spatters on his clothes.

His customizing skills are self-taught, learned through videos on the Internet.

“I made the investment in myself to do something I’ve always wanted to,” he said. “I started doing it for free, to work on my craft, and to develop a portfolio to show people what I’m able to do.

“I like feeling like I have something that no one else does. I like being able to provide that feeling for others. It gives them separation from everyone (else), to feel within themselves that they look good.”