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NIC ADAM \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Sea Bears\u2019 Davion Warren (left) and Simon Hildebrandt (right) are now teammates, but have gone toe-to-toe before when Warren played for the Edmonton Stingers. The Sea Bears tip off the regular season against the Stingers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of friends in federal prison; a lot of friends passed away. Those are lessons, right there. There is two people you don\u2019t want to be like,\u201d Warren said after Sea Bears practice on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, we all grow up as kids, and we take our own route. You don\u2019t want to end up dying at that young age, and you don\u2019t want to end up in jail, getting the same number (sentence) as your age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warren has since built a commendable life and career on the hardwood that has brought many more lessons.<\/p>\n
In the fall of 2023, after finishing his first Canadian Elite Basketball League season with the Edmonton Stingers, Warren signed a deal with a team in Taiwan that folded shortly before the season began. With a five-year-old son to support, Warren drove Uber to supplement the income that he was expecting to make before being scooped up by the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League.<\/p>\n
He told himself the same words during that time: sometimes, you simply need to figure it out.<\/p>\n
Those are the same words he told himself when he didn\u2019t receive a Division 1 offer out of high school and was forced to cut his teeth for two seasons at Olney Central College in Illinois, where he was named the conference\u2019s Most Valuable Player.<\/p>\n
He also thought that when he finally received an offer from Hampton University (Virginia), where he played with two top-10 scorers in the country and scraped for offensive production. In his junior season (second year) at Hampton, Warren was the 12th leading scorer in the country and took home several honours, including Big South Player of the Year and BCSN All-American.<\/p>\n
When he left the low-mid major to chase a larger spotlight at Texas Tech, which featured Terrence Shannon Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. \u2014 two players who were on the radar of NBA teams \u2014 Warren didn\u2019t sweat as he had to start over.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt teaches you the concept of, we say, \u2018Being a dog.\u2019 It teaches you how to be a dog, and to go in every situation and figure it out,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s the lesson: always stay ready. Always be blessed and happy to play, no matter what\u2019s going on,\u201d Warren said. \u201cJust always remember to be blessed to be in those doors you win, because if not, you don\u2019t want to be driving Uber and everybody asking you, \u2018I thought you were playing basketball?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Warren\u2019s decisions are reflected in the man he is today, as he prepares to begin his second stint in the CEBL on Saturday against the team that gave him his first opportunity in the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, he\u2019s a great person. He\u2019s an unbelievable young guy,\u201d said Sea Bears head coach Mike Raimbault. \u201cHis attitude is great. He\u2019s been in for early work and late work. He\u2019s been in the weight room. He\u2019s doing all of the things to sort of get himself ready for what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Winnipeg Sea Bears\u2019 Davion Warren looks to make an impact off the bench in his Sea Bears debut on Saturday.<\/p>\n With Armani Chaney, Teddy Allen and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. likely filling the three available import spots in the starting lineup, that leaves Warren to make an impact off the bench.<\/p>\n He\u2019s done just that everywhere he\u2019s gone, dating back to his time at Texas Tech, where he averaged 9.4 points and led the Red Raiders with 53 total steals.<\/p>\n While Warren has made a career off being excellent on defence and possessing a natural scoring ability, what helped him land a job in Winnipeg was his versatility, which is coveted by Raimbault, who said both parties are \u201clearning on the fly\u201d as the 6-6 guard\/forward is moved around the floor.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cHe\u2019s certainly able to do a bunch of things. We think he\u2019s very switchable; he can guard multiple positions,\u201d Raimbault said. \u201cWe love the way that he\u2019s able to rebound the ball, and he uses his body to get in the lane. I think it\u2019s now just a matter of him getting comfortable in the spots that we would like him to be in, and we expect some good things.\u201d<\/p>\n Warren had another decision to make this spring of where to play next, following an outstanding season with the BHC Knights in the Mongolian National Basketball League.<\/p>\n Unlike some of his past situations, he said joining the Sea Bears was an easy one to make.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never know if it\u2019s gonna be the right fit until you get there, and it turns out, so far, it\u2019s the right fit,\u201d Warren said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what role I\u2019m in, as long as we win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/joshuafreysam<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Joshua Frey-Sam Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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