Photo courtesy of ERIC LUSK

The Elkin (N.C.) Tribune Victor Davila is coming from Starmount (N.C.) High to Virginia Tech.

In the four decades that he has been around basketball, Donnie Livengood has had a few career-defining moments -- none as dramatic as the 2004 decision to welcome a young Puerto Rican into his home.

"Somebody knew somebody and I got a call from someone who knew me," Livengood said.

"We decided to take a chance here and it's turned out to be probably the best thing we've done in our lives."

In the coming days, Livengood and his family will be saying goodbye to Victor Davila, but not for long.

Davila, a 6-foot-9 graduate of Starmount High School in Boonville, N.C., will be moving to Blacksburg for summer school at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies think that Davila will have an impact on their men's basketball team, just as he did on the Livengoods.

"He calls us Papa and Mama," Livengood said. "He's become my son. I have two daughters, 38 and 32, and two grandkids. And, then, we had a 15-year-old all of a sudden. Victor just became one of our family."

It is inevitable that Davila will be described at some point as an exchange student.

"This is not an exchange," Livengood said. "We have legal guardianship. His mother signed him over to us for Victor to have a better life and better opportunities, she said."

Livengood, who has coached basketball at West Yadkin (N.C.) Elementary School for 36 years, only wishes that Davila had come along a year sooner. That way, he could have coached Davila in eighth grade before sending him off to Starmount, where he became a Division I prospect with scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Clemson, among others.

Wake, located 30 minutes from Yadkin County, made its offer while Skip Prosser was the Deacons' coach. Prosser died from a heart attack following the 2006-2007 season.

Tech head coach Seth Greenberg and assistant Stacy Palmore had been coming to see Davila since he was a freshman, "and coach Greenberg and coach Prosser were a lot alike," Livengood said.

"Coach Prosser was a good friend of mine. It came between Wake and Virginia Tech at the end. If Coach Prosser hadn't passed away, I don't know what Victor would have decided, but we just loved Virginia Tech and Blacksburg."

By the time Davila committed to Tech, Wake already had taken commitments from three inside players, all of whom had renewed their pledges after former assistant Dino Gaudio had been elevated to replace Prosser.

Greenberg had seen Wake as the team to beat for Davila, especially when it looked as if Georgia Tech would get Al-Farouq Aminu and Tony Woods, a pair of Georgia big men who eventually committed to Wake.

"I don't know if Wake would have gotten [Davila] for sure," Greenberg said.

"They were in position, but we kept recruiting him. To me, recruiting is very simple. Recruiting is figuring out who's good enough, who fits your personality and who can you get."

Davila has been rated among the nation's top 100 prospects by several publications, but he isn't a top-50 recruit.

"I don't know what the difference between a top 50 and a top 100 is," Greenberg said.

"I know the difference between the top three or four and a top 100. I'll put him up against any of the big kids. He has the potential to be an elite frontcourt player.

"I think what happened was, he was a [Class] 2A player in North Carolina.

"He was not in Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte. He was off the beaten path. I went to see him in the state tournament and I was like, 'Wow.'"

Livengood has heard Davila compared to Tim Duncan, which might seem far-fetched unless you consider that Duncan wasn't as heralded as one of his fellow 1992-93 Wake Forest signees, Makhtar Ndiaye.

"If you watch video of Tim Duncan on one side of a screen and Victor on the other, he plays so much like Tim Duncan," Livengood said.

"Never changes poise. Never changes expression. Never gets upset. Dunks the ball and just goes down to the other end. No pumping his fists."

The Hokies had an ACC All-Freshman selection last year in post player Jeff Allen. Greenberg thinks Davila compares skill-wise.

"He's different, though," Greenberg said.

"He's longer, taller. He needs to get a little more aggressive, but his footwork is ridiculous."

In this case, ridiculous is good.

Davila's adjustment to college ball should be helped by another Puerto Rican, senior A.D. Vassallo, a second-team All-ACC selection last year who led the Hokies in scoring.

"We talk all the time," Davila said.

In English or in Spanish?

"Both."

That wasn't always easy. Davila spoke little English when he left Puerto Rico in 2004 and his new home in North Carolina's northwest corner wasn't exactly a melting pot.

"I got used to it," he said. "I was a little nervous at first because of the language. I knew this was something I needed to do, but all I ever wanted was to do good in school and win a state championship."

He barely missed that second goal when Starmount lost in the 2007 title game, but nobody is asking for any exchanges.