Nick Davis’ mix of contributions to the Omaha Creighton Prep basketball team seems symbolic of his everyday life.

The kid does a little of everything.

If he isn’t scoring, he’s rebounding, blocking shots, deflecting passes or assisting on baskets for the defending Class A state champions, says their coach, Josh Luedtke.

“He shows up in the stat sheet somewhere,’’ Luedtke said.

If he isn’t playing basketball, the Prep senior likely is tending to his 4.0 grade average, taking advanced placement classes or captaining the Science Bowl team. MIT has already accepted him and Davis is pretty sure he will study and play basketball at the prestigious Boston-area university.

And when Creighton Prep takes the Devaney Center floor today against Omaha Bryan, Davis will be the only player in the first-round state playoff game with national and international experience in team handball.

You read that correctly.

Davis spent a week at the U.S. Olympic training center last summer in Colorado Springs, Colo. He played with the USA under-18 team last September in Dormagen, Germany, then joined an Atlanta team for a tournament in Chicago before basketball started.

Luedtke had no problem with one of his starters dabbling in a rough sport, figuring it actually might help the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder in basketball.

“I thought it was good because he was doing something that was allowing him to compete,’’ Luedtke said. “The other thing I liked is that it’s a pretty physical game, and I thought that was one area of the game in basketball where I thought Nick needed to improve on.’’

Davis describes six-on-six team handball as “water polo out of the water.’’ There’s running and dribbling and throwing, with the object to fire a ball — just smaller than a volleyball — past a goalie and into a net. No pads, but plenty of contact.

“Basically it requires a good arm, and there’s a lot of athleticism involved in getting open and scoring,’’ he said. “I could probably field a team of Prep guys and we’d be pretty good.’’

It’s just not a mainstream sport, which leads to how Davis ended up playing it.

His father, Paul — a former Creighton baseball player and Dana College baseball coach — was teaching a class on sport management at Nebraska Wesleyan and introducing his students to sports popular in other places. Then he and his son started researching it and talking about it last spring.

They learned of a tryout in Chicago as the U.S. was reassembling a youth team. Nick had decided not to play baseball, so he had time to make the trip.

“I pick up a handball for the first time in my life at a tryout for the national team and I figure, ‘This’ll be interesting,’” Nick Davis said. “It turns out it’s a real fun game, and I really enjoyed it.’’

If he attends MIT, he might stick with team handball because there is a club in Boston and others around the Northeast, his father said. USA Handball is looking at taking a team to the World University Games next summer in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.

“It’s had to go to the back burner,” his father said, “but he’s looking forward to playing again.”

Everything but basketball is on the back burner this week as Nick Davis and No. 3 Creighton Prep start defense of their Class A title. Davis is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game for the Junior Jays (19-4).

He will try to keep making the right and smart plays, which usually comes naturally to someone who twice has scored 35 on his ACT — the second time missing a perfect score by one wrong answer.

“He has the potential to score, but he realizes there’s so many different guys who can put the ball in the bucket for us,’’ Luedtke said. “The good part is he’s always bought into the team aspect and doing what’s best for the team. He understands the game, understands what we’re trying to do as a team, and where he fits in.’’

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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