LM Athlete Earns Special Honor

Linn-Mar junior Davis Kern is The Gazette All-Area Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year.

Jeff Johnson from The Gazette says the 6-foot-8 Kern was named a first-team all-state player in Class 4A by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. He averaged 22.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for the Lions, numbers that ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the class.

Kern, the player of the year in the Mississippi Division of the Mississippi Valley Conference, surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career this season and said in early February he wanted to be considered the next great player in a program that has had a ton of them: from the Bohannon brothers to Grant Gibbs to Jordan Printy to Marcus Paige.

“I know definitely I’m a better player than I was a year ago,” Kern said. “I’ve been working a lot out of season on handling and shooting it more. The main thing, though, is mentally. I know I’m a lot better mentally, just confidence wise. Sometimes in the past I wouldn’t take shots I take this year.

Some of the shots I missed last year I’m making this year. My percentages and stuff are way better. “All around, I’m trying to be a better passer, a better ballhandler. And defensively also, trying to be a better perimeter defender.

“I know I’ll get to where I want to go college wise. I just know I want to go somewhere that will fit me as a player and also somewhere where I’m going to enjoy playing.”

Congratulations Davis!