JACKSONVILLE, Arkansas — If you were to take a drive along Highway 67 through Jacksonville, a piece of hometown pride is pretty easy to spot. Lining the highway is a billboard— that is not for an advertisement, but for a person.
The hometown kid, Davonte "Devo" Davis.
"His heart's what's so big, and I think that's what empowers him to play the game that he does," Jacksonville Mayor Jeff Elmore said. "He is, I think, the heart and soul of that team."
The pride for Devo is real in Jacksonville. Besides the billboard, it's hard to not find someone excited about the game— and even prouder after his performance.
"Put in a lot of work, it's crazy," Devo said during an emotional postgame interview after the Hogs' 72-71 win over top-seeded Kansas. "I don't know, it's crazy."
"I looked over at my wife during that, and she's just got tears flowing," Mayor Elmore said. "I heard somebody say if you didn't tear up, you're not human."
While his performance was legendary, it's what Devo means to his hometown that has been really shining through.
"He's a great role model, you know, for our kids to look up to," he explained.
Mayor Elmore isn't the only one who has been thinking that.
"His heart is so big, and he cares about Jacksonville so much," Monty Patel, a former coach of Devo, said. "That's where he's from, he'll rep it every day."
Patel will tell you the same as Elmore— pride in his play is always there, but pride in Devo off the court is just as important.
"I was emotional too, just to see the work that he's put in, it just keeps showing up over and over and over, and I'm like, 'dude, I'm proud of you,'" Patel said. "Like, just how you're handling yourself, I'm happy that you're getting this success, that people are reaching out to you, to tell you how proud they are, and he hasn't changed!"
Of course, Patel and Elmore are looking forward to another Razorback win on Thursday against UCONN. No matter what happens, though, Devo is the pride of 'Devo-Ville' all the same.
"His performance and what he did is just impressive," Mayor Elmore said. "It's inspiring, and it has inspired a lot of people."
The Razorbacks play UCONN on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. on THV11.
