A NOMADIC PHAROAH FINALLY FINDS A HOME; AFTER SEVERAL PRIOR WHISTLE STOPS, DAVIS IS BECOMING A UTAH STATE DIESEL.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer

This Pharoah has landed just about everywhere but the pyramids along the Nile.

Pharoah Davis (as in jazz musician Pharoah Sanders, not the Egyptian pharaohs) left Palmdale for what he thought would be a quick path to glory as an NCAA Division I basketball star.

The road turned out to be a twisting, bumpy three-year trip that is now a smooth ride. The tour makes a stop in Sacramento today, where Davis, a junior starting forward at Utah State, plays a first-round NCAA Tournament game against Maryland at ARCO Arena.

``It feels good to be finally settled, to be at a place where I can play and be happy,'' Davis said by phone from the Salt Lake City airport Tuesday night.

Upon his graduation from Highland High in 1994, Davis was attracted to one of the game's most creative and flamboyant personalities in then-George Mason University coach Paul Westhead, who directed the Lakers to an NBA championship in 1980 and brought national attention to Loyola Marymount with his ``warp speed'' running game.

``To be able to have some freedom on the court was appealing to me,'' Davis said. ``I was able to play run-and-gun basketball. I loved the Washington D.C. area, and it's a good school.''

While Davis started 17 games as a freshman, Westhead was doomed to be a bust at the Fairfax, Va., school. George Mason struggled during Davis' freshman season, when the Patriots went 7-20.

Davis, unhappy with what he viewed as the team's total disregard for playing defense, transferred to New Mexico State, where he never played a minute and was off again after one semester amid pending NCAA investigations of coach Neil McCarthy's program.

``There was talk of (the school going on) probation and I had to make the decision to move on again,'' Davis said. ``I felt like the whole world was crashing down on me.''

It caved in on Davis that following summer, after he had matriculated at Chipola Community College in Marianna, Fla.

During a pickup game, Davis ``tweaked'' his right knee and missed the first half of the following season after having the knee scoped. He hadn't played for nearly two years and he became riddled with self-doubt. His once promising future was fading away on the Florida Panhandle.

``It was pretty frustrating. Being from California, JC ball is kind of an X-factor; no one really wants to go there,'' Davis said. ``I was considering hanging it up.''

But in Marianna, a sleepy community of 6,000 a short drive from the Alabama border, Davis felt he had few choice but to focus on basketball and school.

``(Marianna) made Palmdale feel like a metropolis. We had a Wal-Mart there. A McDonald's,'' Davis said.

Another factor was the guidance provided by Chipola coach Carl Nash, one of the nation's most respected teachers on the junior college level.

Davis, his knee mended, played the last 15 games of the 1996-97 season and was still viewed as commodity by several schools, including Utah State.

``I think the coaching and teaching of Carl Nash really helped (Davis). Being a disciplinarian, he has some of the same principles as our staff,'' said Steve Barnes, Utah State coach Larry Eustachy's top assistant. ``Sitting for a long period of time was getting to him.

``He played the last 15 games and he seemed to me like he was into playing still. It helped him to have Long Beach State, Colorado . . . and Utah State still interested.''

Standing just 6-foot-5 on a short but scrappy 25-7 Big West Conference Tournament champion, Davis is averaging 9.0 points and 6.5 rebounds despite usually matching up with taller forwards and post players.

``He's a tremendously hard worker. He does a lot of the dirty work for this team, '' Barnes said.

THE PHAROAH FILE

Name: Pharoah Davis

Vitals: 6-5 junior forward

School: Utah State

Statistics: The Highland High product is the Aggies' fifth-leading scorer (9.0) and second-leading rebounder (6.5) He has collected a team-high 87 offensive rebounds.

Quote: ``Our chances are really good. They have to guard us too. Basketball games go both ways. . . . People might think we're a major surprise. But we're not surprised.'' - Davis, on the 13th-seeded Aggies' chances against fourth-seeded Maryland today in an NCAA Tournament West Regional first-round game.

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Box

BOX: The Pharoah file (See text)