Standing just 15 feet away from the basket, but 544 miles from his hometown of New Orleans, freshman forward Nick Davis calmly sank the first of two free throws.

It was another rough night for Our Lady of the Lake's basketball team, falling at home to San Antonio College, but nothing new for Davis.  For someone who lived in a city called the "Big Easy", the last few months have been anything but.

Hurricane Katrina swept the Gulf Coast the week before Davis was to begin college at the University of New Orleans.  When the storm cleared the back of his house was demolished and what was standing was underneath eight feet of water. 

"When you're filling out those insurance forms, making a list of everything you lost, you realize that you had a lot more than you thought," Davis said.  "it makes you appreciate everything you have even more."

Davis, his four sisters and their parents relocated in Houston.  An aunt who attended Our Lady of the Lake-Houston alerted Davis of an opportunity to attent school at the main campus in San Antonio, free of charge.

As Davis' family settled in Houston, buying a house, he was traveling farther west on Interstate 10, away from family, friends and any sense of remaining familiarity and onto his first semester of college.

While many would find such daunting circumstances too much to handle, Davis' personality has remained as big and easy-going as the city which he called home.

"I look at my time here as a vacation away from everything that's happened" Davis said.  "I adapt well anywhere I go."

While he may have been seperated from his friends, Davis found new opportunities on the basketball court when his resident advisor, now teammate, Daniel De Hoyos recommended he go out for the university's basketball team. 

"I'm always looking for people to play basketball, and when he showed me his state championship ring, I asked him right away," said De Hoyos.

Affectionately called "New Orleans" by his teammates, Nick Davis has become a major part of basketball at the university in the brief time he has been here.

Having played three years of varsity basketball on a state championship, Davis' size and versatility was a welcomed addition to a team that in the past has lacked both.  But perhaps more importantly, Davis' personality has fit right into the locker room.

"He's real laid-back and gets along with everyone on and off the court," said team captain Anthony Gomez.  "He's been a big presence on the team."

It has been his large, yet easy-going personality that has connected him with his city and created a small following here.  Every game a small group of fans, who have become a part of Davis's extended family, cheer loudly for their adopted classmate.

During a game against San Antonio College, one of the fans, playfully jesting Davis, held up a sign that read:  "Sink it New Orleans".

The sign, and the attention recieved with it, have all been taken in stride by Davis, who chooses to laugh and be cheerful about everything that has happened.

"They told me they were going to do (the sign), so I couldn't be mad.  Sometimes you have to be able to laugh when things go bad," Davis said.

The distraction of the basketball court has allowed him to do just that.  A road game against Cy Fair College in Houston presented the Davis family an opportunity to see their son play.  Shorthanded, the team lost, but Davis did not disappoint, scoring a season-high 22 points.  With his family watching, for a moment, everything was normal again.

"Basketball has been a huge relief for me, just getting to play everyday," Davis said.

What happens beyond this semester still remains in question for Davis.  With only this semester guaranteed and the immediate future of New Orleans still up in the air, Davis plans on taking a semester off before making his next decision.

While he has enjoyed his stay here, Davis says he cannot wait for the opportunity to return to his family and home city.  Still, he's grateful for the hospitality and plans on keeping in touch with his new extended family at OLLU.

"These people, they took me in when I needed it the most," said Davis.  "I'll always remember that."

Our Lady of  the Lake University is a small, catholic university in San Antonio, Texas.  The school competes with other small schools in and around south Texas, and is not affiliated with the NCAA or NAIA.