He may be 5 feet 8 inches tall, but there’s nothing short about his game. Davonte Sweatman plays with grit, heart, and passion. He learned to play that way from his father and godfather, to whom he gives all the credit. 

“Really, my pops, but my godfather too, Ricky Lambright, he really was the person that brought me up,” Sweatman said. “Playing in fifth grade, he showed me the ropes, how the game is played, how to play the game the right way, ever since fifth grade all the way up to high school.” 

Sweatman, playing in his junior year, is off to a good start despite the team’s early struggles on the road. Coming out the gate in his first game against Rhode Island University, he had 12 points, three rebounds, and one steal before missing two games with an injury.  

Being an undersized guard at the Division I level is a challenging task. The average height for a Division I guard is 6 feet 4 inches, but height has never been a challenge for Sweatman because he’s always played against his older cousins.

“I realized it, and it’s kind of weird because when I was young, I never really played with my age group when I was young,” Sweatman said. “I always played with my cousins, and they were always older and taller than me, so it was either I go out there and they kill me or I go out there and compete with them.” 

That mindset makes Sweatman succeed. He’s a natural competitor with the heart and gritty playstyle that makes him stand out on the court.  

Sweatman had a tremendous senior season at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts, where he averaged an impressive 30 points per game, 4.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds.

With those stats, one would think he’d have several offers. Sweatman said that wasn’t the case.  

“I was always underrated and overlooked by colleges, so I was like, this is my last year either I come out and hoop or just be average or mediocre,” Sweatman said. “In my last year, I had to get it done. I had no offers or anything before my senior year.” 

Sweatman could’ve taken an entirely different route coming out of high school. Rather than taking the junior college route to get more looks, he found his home at Central. Sweatman said the decision was easy because CCSU’s head coach, Patrick Sellers, had faith in him.

“Coach Sellers really believed in me. I talked on the phone with other Division I programs, but they just tell you what you want to hear,” Sweatman said. “When I talked to Sellers, I really felt like he wanted me here; he respected my game.”

Something that Sweatman said he worked on gaining back confidence and having fun this offseason.

“I would say confidence, and I would say that because in high school, you can see I had all the confidence in the world,” Sweatman said. “So, over the summer, my main goal was confidence.”