Winthrop "Wink" Davenport Jr. (born April 12, 1942) is an American former college basketball player, former National team volleyball player, and former lead volleyball official.
Davenport grew up in Binghamton, New York. He was awarded a scholarship to play basketball at Wesleyan, where he had a distinguished college career. United Press International named him first-team small college all-New England. He was captain of the basketball team his senior year. He left Wesleyan holding the school record for most points scored in a game (44) and for career scoring average (19.6). In addition to basketball, Davenport lettered twice as a member of the Wesleyan golf team.
In the late 1950's Davenport became active playing AAU volleyball at a YMCA in his hometown of Binghamton, New York. In 1966 he moved to Santa Monica, California, where he joined the Santa Monica Volleyball club team. The team was one of the top amateur teams, and competed at the USVBA Open Nationals. Following the tournament Davenport was selected for the US National Men's Volleyball Team. He competed at the 1967 Pan American Games, where the team won the gold medal. In 1968 he played on the National Team when it competed at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. The following year, he was again selected to play on the National team at the 1969 World Cup. In 1971 he captained Santa Monica's USVBA Men's Open National Championship club team and earned All-America honors. He remained a member of the US National team through 1971.
Chronic knee problems caused him to quit playing competitively, but he continued to be involved in volleyball as an official. In this capacity he made his largest contribution to the sport of volleyball. Davenport earned his national certification in 1971. He officiated at the USA Cup, the World Junior Championships, the World Championships, the World Cup and the Olympics. Davenport officiated at 11 NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championships from 1980 through 1990 and six NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships between 1982 and 1990. He officiated at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Davenport served as a Board member of the U.S. Volleyball Association from 1971 through 1977, and served as vice president of the USVBA from 1973 through 1976. He was the secretary of the international referees committee of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball from 1992 through 1996. Davenport retired as an active official in 1995, and has continued on in emeritus status since 1996. Davenport was referee delegate to the Olympic games held in Atlanta in 1996.
Davenport is married and has three children. He met his wife, Ann, on the volleyball courts in Southern California. She became president of the Southern California Volleyball Association. His oldest two daughters, Leiann and Shannon, both went to college on volleyball scholarships, Leiann at UC Irvine and Shannon at St. Mary's College. Davenport's youngest daughter, Lindsay, became a tennis player, winning the 1996 Olympic gold medal and three Grand Slam singles titles: the US Open (1998), Wimbledon (1999), and the Australian Open (2000).
Davenport was inducted into the Wesleyan Hall of Fame in 2009.
Video Wink Davenport
References
Maps Wink Davenport
External links
USA Volleyball: Retired and Emeritus National Referees [1]
Source of article : Wikipedia
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