Daily Chronicle 2024 Boys Athlete of the Year: DeKalb’s Davon Grant

His first play at safety was an emphatic hit on an elusive all-state quarterback.

He routinely rocks the basketball court not just with rim-rattling dunks but stingy interior defense.

But first and foremost Davon Grant considers himself a wide receiver, and at least seven NCAA Division I college coaches agree with him.

The DeKalb rising junior put up eye-popping numbers in everything he did this year from being a two-way starter on the football team to an all-area basketball player. He is the Daily Chronicle 2024 Boys Athlete of the Year.

“Like a lot of guys high school is the one chance you have to do everything,” DeKalb basketball coach Mike Reynolds said. “He’s done that well. He’s a great teammate. He’s a true multiple-sport athlete because he puts time into everything. He doesn’t just show up when the season starts. He plays and continues to get better. As good as he was this year I think you’ll see growth in both sports.”

Grant had a breakthrough basketball season as a freshman, but a hip injury caused him to miss most of football season. This year he broke through in a big way on the football field, producing the Barbs’ only touchdown with two big receptions in a loss to Sycamore in his first varsity game.

He finished the year with 42 catches for 936 yards and six touchdowns, plus had a 100-yard interception return among his four picks at safety on the year. He finished with 40 tackles.

Grant said he played defensive end when he was younger but always preferred the offensive side of the ball. Coach Derek Schneeman and the DeKalb coaching staff didn’t really practice him at safety, but put him in against Sycamore.

On his first play, he leveled Burke Gautcher, who was a Class 5A Illinois HIgh School Football Coaches Association All-State first-teamer.

“We were counting on him offensively but didn’t really know what he would be able to do on the defensive side of the ball,” Schneeman said. “Then we threw him in a pinch against Sycamore. He hadn’t taken a defensive rep before that because I didn’t want to throw too much at him, and he laid probably the biggest hit on Gautcher that maybe I’ve ever seen at the high school level.”

Grant said he prefers the offensive side of the ball, but defense has grown on him. He says he tries to tackle carefully on defense, trying to avoid any concussions or other serious injuries, especially after the hip injury that derailed his freshman season.

“They put me in at safety and I didn’t really have experience at that,” said Grant, a Daily Chronicle all-area first-team selection in both football and basketball. “I’m really an offense threat and I was really focused on the offensive side of the ball. So I wasn’t really fond of playing defense. But they really needed me, so I gave it a shot. Then I got that hit in the Sycamore game and they’ve kept me there ever since.”

After just one varsity season, Grant has picked up offers from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Marshall, Akron and NIU.

“I wasn’t really expecting to get all those offers. I was just expecting to go out and better myself,” Grant said. “I knew I wanted to play college so I got myself in shape, started working out and just worked.”

Grant averaged 14.5 points per game on the hardwood for the Barbs, helping DeKalb reach the sectional round. He grabbed 7.1 rebounds per game, was all-DuPage Valley Conference and was special mention on the IBCA state team.

As a freshman, Grant averaged 14 points and seven rebounds per game. But even with all the hardwood success, Grant still said he prefers football. It’s the physical nature of the game that appeals to him the most.

“Since a young age I played football and grew a love for it,” Grant said. “It kind of died down ever since I started getting better at basketball. But I realized I can’t really do much, physicality-wise, with basketball like I can in football. That’s what really opened up my eyes like, yeah, football is the sport.”