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IU names Mike Davis as head basketball coach
March 21, 2001
EDITORS: A broadcast-quality re-feed of today's news conference will be available by satellite uplink at 4 p.m. EST today. Coordinates are C-Band Galaxy 3R (95 degrees West), Transponder 4V (3780 MHz) 6.2-6.8 mono. The announcement also was presented by IU live on the Web and can be viewed at http://broadcast.iu.edu. Technical assistance for the uplink is available from WFYI, phone 317-633-7410.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University today (March 21) announced that IU President Myles Brand has appointed Mike Davis as men's basketball coach at IU Bloomington.
Davis served this past season as interim coach and led the Hoosiers to a 21-13 record, the Big Ten tournament title game and their 16th consecutive appearance in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. He is the 25th coach to lead the program in its 101-year history and succeeds Bob Knight, who was removed as coach in September 2000.
"This is a very important day in the history of Indiana University basketball," said IU President Myles Brand. "The season has revealed the character of Mike Davis. It's revealed his resilience, his grace under pressure, and his ability to unite and motivate young men, and he and the team have represented Indiana University very well.
"Indiana University's basketball program is an elite program. It plays by the rules and it graduates its student athletes. Wins and losses are important ... but so is dealing with these outcomes with class and dignity," Brand added. "I strongly believe that Coach Davis is the right man to maintain and build upon IU's great traditions."
J. Terry Clapacs, IU vice president for administration and chair of a seven-member panel that selected Davis, said that based on his performance during the season, no other candidates were seriously considered for the head basketball coach position.
"We spent the year looking at the program," Clapacs said. "At the end (of the season), I think all of us witnessed a remarkable turnaround from our early-season play with a second-place performance in the Big Ten tournament and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. That was indeed remarkable. Coach Davis has represented Indiana University in the most professional way.
"We took our responsibilities very seriously. We understand how important Indiana basketball is to this state," Clapacs said. "The decision ended up being an easy decision, and we are proud to introduce to you our next permanent men's basketball coach."
While thanking his family, friends, minister, players and coaches, Davis expressed appreciation to the university administration for treating him fairly and for giving him an opportunity to prove himself.
"Hopefully, I proved to a lot of schools around the country that there are a lot of capable assistant coaches who can coach college basketball," Davis said. "I know a lot of people look for big names. It's not in the name, it's in the work.
"For the next four years, I plan on taking this basketball program to the next level," he added. "I look forward to bringing a lot of great players here and having a lot of great memories."
He will be paid a total compensation package of $400,000 annually for four years. His contract does not include income that he earns from speaking engagements, endorsements and other private sources.
Davis had the most successful first season of any head coach in the IU basketball program's history, and his 21 wins were four more than any of his predecessors in the first year. He also ranked second among first-year head coaches nationally.
He was one of just 14 head coaches in the nation -- from among 319 men's basketball coaches -- who guided a team this season that did not include a single senior. His team was the highest-ranked team without a senior and one of just two to make the NCAA tournament.
Though new to the role of head coach, Davis already had made a large impact on the IU program. As an assistant coach for three seasons, he earned national recognition for his ability to successfully recruit several of the nation's top prep players and student-athletes. He was responsible for one of the nation's top freshmen classes this year.
Davis also has been instrumental in the development of several top Hoosier players, including A.J. Guyton, who was named Big Ten Most Valuable Player in 2000.
Davis came to Indiana after a two-year stint (1995-97) as an assistant coach under David Hobbs at the University of Alabama. The 1995-96 Crimson Tide posted a 23-10 record and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament's Final Four, and the following season they went 19-13.
Davis' coaching tenure with Alabama marked his return to the Crimson Tide. The Fayette, Ala., native played collegiate basketball at Alabama after earning that state's Mr. Basketball honor and All-American status in 1979.
He was a standout for four seasons at Alabama and finished his career in the top 25 of the Crimson Tide's all-time scoring list with 1,211 points. He played for two coaching legends, C.M. Newton and Wimp Sanderson, and averaged 10.1 points per game, and he still ranks third all-time on the school's steals list with 165.
During his four seasons at Alabama, the Crimson Tide posted an 80-42 record and advanced to two NIT and two NCAA tournaments. Davis won Alabama's Hustle Award each season and was named to the Southeastern Conference's All-Defensive team his senior year.
After college, Davis was a second-round selection of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1983 National Basketball Association draft. He played professionally for two seasons in Italy and Switzerland, where he was named to the league's all-star team. He played for the Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association in the 1988-89 season.
The following year Davis began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the 1989-90 season at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala. He went on to coach the Venezuelan national team and professional teams there.
Davis returned to the United States and the CBA in 1990, working as an assistant to current IU Associate Head Coach John Treloar with the Wichita Falls Texans. Their first season together led to a championship. The Texans edged Quad Cities, then led by current IU assistant coach Dan Panaggio, in the finals.
Davis and Treloar went on to enjoy success together with the Texans and later the Chicago Rockers. During his CBA coaching career, Davis tutored several eventual NBA players, including Ennis Whatley, John Lucas, Roy Tarpley and David Wesley.
Born Sept. 15, 1960, in Fayette, Ala., Davis is married to the former Tamilya Floyd. The couple has a 2-year-old son, Antoine. Davis also is the father of a son, Mike Jr., and a daughter, Lateesha. He earned a degree in telecommunications from Thomas Edison State College in 1995.
(Susan Dillman, 812-856-9035, sdillman@indiana.edu)