Marquise Davis played with a different mindset than his peers at Cleveland (Ohio) Cleveland Heights.

He showed up a few weeks late into fall camp his sophomore year after traveling across the country in a football camp tour. Fifteen minutes into his first 7-on-7 competition, even before he knew the defensive scheme, Davis had already recorded four interceptions.

"I remember thinking, 'Wow, this kid has got has some serious instincts,'" Cleveland Heights coach Mac Stephens said. "From that point on, he just took off. And then a week later, we put him on offense, and it was pretty apparent that even offensively, he was going to be a pretty good football player."

That early instance encapsulated the potential of Davis, and it was during his senior season when he showed off his abilities as a running back, powering for 463 yards and eight touchdowns in a single game.

"He's got a grown-man body," Stephens said. "He plays the game, in my opinion, in an old fashioned way, in that he's really physical. And everybody talks about what he's done as a running back, but he's probably just as good of a defensive football player as well."

Taking to Missouri as a four-star running back, Davis' physicality was most on display when he played defense. He wouldn't tackle opponents at their ankles; he'd run through them.

"To see him physically become what he is currently has been eye opening," Stephens said. "He's always been a pretty good looking kid from an athletic standpoint, but over the years, he's really worked hard to get his body ready for a step higher than high school football."

Coaching high school football for over 25 years, Stephens tabbed Davis as one the most humble elite players he's ever been around. Davis' laser focus and calm demeanor stretches from the classroom to the gridiron.

"You would never know how good he really is if you didn't watch him play in person or see his film," Stephens said. "Because he doesn't brag or boast, he just works his tail off and carries on every day about his business."

The Tigers wanted two running backs in the Class of 2025, and even with Davis pledging to Kentucky in May, the staff kept close tabs with the four-star, trying to get him on campus in the past two months before his official visit this past weekend.

"Missouri was one of those schools going way back that's probably always been in his top three or four schools," Stephens said. "I think, to Missouri's credit, they just kept recruiting him, and things fell into place."

Getting Davis on campus for an over-night visit was crucial for Missouri. Leading up to the decision to announce his flipped commitment Sunday, Davis got on the phone with Stephens to confirm his comfortability in changing his decision.

At points in Davis' recruitment Michigan and Ohio State, who faced a running backs coaching change, were also both in on the four-star back.

"I think all of these schools have to continue to recruit kids until actual signing day," Stephens said. "Because it's just a different animal that we're looking at right now."

Stephens planned to enroll early during his commitment to Kentucky, which is likely the same plan for Missouri, who signed Davis on Wednesday.

"My advice was to enroll early," Stephens said. "Because I think it would be beneficial for him to get acclimated to college classes and then have the opportunity to go through spring ball, learn their offensive scheme, make his mistakes and then come back in the summer ready to go."

Transferring to Cleveland Heights in 2022, Davis started playing high school football his sophomore year. Before then, he played in a local youth organization.

"He was taking it seriously," Stephens said. "It happens quite a bit here in the Cleveland area, where a lot of kids will elect to play in the Cleveland Muny Football League or for some travel organization, because they get to travel around the country and play football."