Walter Francis "Buddy" Davis (January 5, 1931 – November 17, 2020) was an American athlete. After winning a gold medal in the high jump at the 1952 Olympics he became a professional basketball player. Despite contracting polio at age nine and being unable to walk for three years, Davis had a standout athletic career at Texas A&M University and later won Olympic gold in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, with a leap of . The Philadelphia Warriors selected the Davis in the second round of the 1952 NBA draft. He spent five seasons with the Warriors and St. Louis Hawks, averaging 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Davis was Inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964 and to the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016. Davis died on November 17, 2020, in Port Arthur, Texas at age 89. References 1931 births 2020 deaths American male high jumpers American men's basketball players Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Texas Centers (basketball) Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Philadelphia Warriors draft picks Philadelphia Warriors players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Beaumont, Texas St. Louis Hawks players Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players Texas A&M Aggies men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Texas World record setters in athletics (track and field)