Mike Davis (basketball coach)

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Mike Davis (born September 15, 1960 in Fayette, Alabama) is an American college basketball coach.^[1] He is currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham(UAB). He formerly held the same position at Indiana University.^[2]

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Coaching career 2.1 Alabama 2.2 Indiana 2.2.1 Assistant coach 2.2.2 Head coach 2.3 UAB 3 Personal 4 References

[edit] Playing career

Davis, an Alabama native, spent his collegiate playing career with the University of Alabama Crimson Tide after earning the state's Mr. Basketball honor in 1979. In his first season, he played for the legendary C. M. Newton and then spent his final three years playing under another coaching legend, Wimp Sanderson. He ended his career with a 10.1 points per game average. His 165 steals ranks third all-time at the school. Davis won the teams's Hustle Award all four seasons and was named to the Southeastern Conference's All-Defensive team his senior year.

Following his playing career at Alabama, Davis was a second-round selection of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association in the 1983 draft, but never played in the league. He would spend the next two seasons playing in Switzerland, where he was named to the league's all-star team, and in Italy. He played the 1988-89 season with the Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).

[edit] Coaching career

Davis began his coaching career as an assistant at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. After one season at Miles College, Davis relocated to Venezuela, directing both professional teams and the country's national team.^[1]

In 1990, Davis returned to the United States and took a position with the Wichita Falls Texans of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). In 1994, the Wichita Falls franchise relocated to Chicago. Davis moved with the team not only as an assistant coach, but also as a player. Despite not having played for five years, the then 35-year-old Davis averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest for the Rockers.^[1]

[edit] Alabama

Davis returned to his alma mater, Alabama and served as an assistant coach from (1995-1997) under head coach, David Hobbs.^[1]

[edit] Indiana

[edit] Assistant coach

In 1997, Davis joined the coaching staff of legendary coach Bob Knight at Indiana. In his three seasons as an IU assistant, the Hoosiers compiled a 63-32 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times.

[edit] Head coach

IU president Myles Brand dismissed Bob Knight in September 2000, finding him in violation of a "zero tolerance" policy Brand had previously instituted. Students and alumni protested the Knight firing, and several players threatened to transfer unless assistants John Treloar and Mike Davis were promoted to replace Knight. Brand offered the assistants jobs as 'co coaches' but Treloar declined, deferring to Davis who became Knight's successor on September 12, 2000. Treloar accepted the title of 'Associate Head Coach.'

In his first season, Davis led a team featuring future lottery picks Kirk Haston and Jared Jeffries to a 21-13 record. On March 21, 2001, Davis was given the head coaching position on a permanent basis. In 2002, the Davis-led Hoosiers followed a 19-12 regular season with surprise run to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament title game. One month later, Indiana rewarded Davis with a contract extension through the 2007-2008 season.

Coach Davis was unable to maintain similar success in the following years. Indiana's 14-15 record during the 2003-2004 season was the school's first losing season in over 35 years. In 2004 'Associate Head Coach' John Treloar left Indiana for a position as an assistant coach at LSU. The following season, Indiana went 15-14, including a first round home loss in the NIT. In the spring of 2005, Rick Greenspan warned,

"While we share this common goal and are both confident that it will be reached, we also know that our record the last two years is not up to the standards to which Indiana is accustomed and to which we aspire. This is why we have set ambitious and achievable goals for next season of competing at a very high level in the Big Ten Conference and successfully competing in the NCAA tournament."^[3]

When Indiana again failed to meet expectations during the 2005-2006 season, Davis began to blame the team's failure on the fans, the media, his players and even his opponent's failure to play its starting point guard. By late January 2006, the Hoosiers were at risk of missing the tournament for the third straight year and the calls for Davis' job grew louder. On February 11, 2006, Davis missed a home game against Iowa. Four days later, he resigned effective at the end of the 2006 season. Davis said that he decided to make the announcement before the end of the season to end the distraction that his position's uncertainty had created around the team. The Hoosiers performed better after this announcement and reached the second-round of the NCAA Tournament. Indiana lost 90-80 to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 2006, ending Mike Davis' tenure as Indiana's head coach.

[edit] UAB

On April 7, 2006, Mike Davis was hired as the new head coach of the UAB Blazers.^[1] Davis replaced Mike Anderson, who left UAB after a successful stint to become the head coach at Missouri. The Blazers finished 15-16 in Davis' first season at the helm, earning a 9th seed in the Conference USA tournament and losing to 8th seed Marshall 53-52 in the first round. UAB subsequently failed to qualify for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, ending the Blazers' three-year streak of appearances in the NCAA post-season and causing some to question whether Davis was the right man for the job.^[4] Nonetheless, many fans remain optimistic that with a stable of new players becoming eligible in 2007-08, Davis will be able to lead the Blazers back into the tournament.

[edit] Personal

Davis is married to Tamilya Davis (née Floyd). The couple has a son, Antoine. Davis is also the father of Mike Davis, Jr., who is a member of the UAB men's basketball team and a daughter, Lateesha.

Preceded by Bob Knight	Indiana University Basketball Coach 2000–2006	Succeeded by Kelvin Sampson
Preceded by Mike Anderson	UAB Basketball Coach 2006–	Succeeded by (current)

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Mike Davis Named UAB Men's Basketball Coach. Conference USA (2006-04-07). Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
2. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/seth_davis/02/15/indiana.davis/index.html
3. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57027-2005Mar22.html
4. ^ http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1173172656223200.xml&coll=2