BYU basketball commit Isaac Davis coming to Hillcrest football: 'It’s fun being a dawg out there'

Whether if it's been from the grandstands, or through a chain-link fence from a few blocks away - if you've seen this year's version of rapidly-improving-into-state-contention Hillcrest football, you might have noticed something extraordinary.

Specifically on the defensive line.

It's a towering rush-the-passer presence.

Nah, it can't be the same guy, right?

Yes it is - four-star BYU basketball pledge Isaac Davis.

After constant low-key nudging by friends and even third-year football coach Brennon Mossholder, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound dynamo decided to come back to football for his senior season.

So far, the results have been promising - five sacks in three games, and in select red-zone package on offense, he has caught a pair of touchdown passes.

On Friday night, Davis faces his biggest test - three-time defending Class 4A champion Skyline in what likely will decide the High Country title.

"Football has been fun," Davis said. "I thought I would come back to it. Obviously, I love basketball and have gotten far with it, but I wanted to do this for my senior year."

Davis played football through seventh grade, but as his basketball opportunities grew, he quit to solely focus on that sport. And last March, he led Hillcrest to back-to-back Idaho state titles - and was an SBLive Idaho first-team all-classification all-state selection.

In April, Davis - a top-100 national recruit - gave BYU a verbal commitment over Oklahoma, UNLV, VCU and WSU to play basketball.

None of that has stopped Mossholder, who was hired in 2021 after five seasons at Yamhill-Carlton High School in Oregon, from dropping pro-football hints:

* Mossholder told Davis with his frame, he could make money in the NFL - and that he had an uncanny resemblance to Myles Garrett, who is a defensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns.

* The coach invited Davis to the team leadership meetings.

* And when it came to ordering new football uniforms for this fall, Mossholder gave Davis free rein on choosing one for himself - just in case.

"This has been a three-year conversation with him," Mossholder said.

And the day before training camp started in August, Davis went to his father, Steve, and said he need football cleats - because he was joining the team.

"I decided ... when I was out camping with family, and I was talking to my cousin about football. That left a strong impression," Davis said.

"I think I caught my mom off guard. She was like ... 'Oh my gosh, Isaac?' I think she was nervous about me being hurt. Dad was on board with it."

It didn't take long at all for Davis to make a strong impression, especially with a former NFL lineman.

Mark Asper, a Bonneville product and former University of Oregon standout who played with seven different teams in the NFL, is an assistant coach for Mossholder at Hillcrest.

After Asper watched Davis perform with pads on for the first time, he gave Mossholder a very candid assessment.

"Mark is not one to get carried away, so when I asked him if he would fit in at Oregon, he said, 'Duh!'" Mossholder said.

"With his sheer athleticism, he is making plays I have never seen."

And because Mossholder has been careful not to overload Davis with all the technical stuff of football, the coach has just cut him loose to rush the backfield at defensive end.

"I think it’s fun being a dawg out there," Davis said. "Honestly, I am just having fun, that is pretty much it. I am just doing my part."

In terms of how playing football impacts basketball - the teenager isn't sure what it is to come.

"Over the next (nine) weeks, if he falls in love with football ... I think it could open up a lot of doors for himself," Mossholder said.

What does Davis think of that possibility?

"I just know I love football," Davis said, "and basketball."