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Mike Davis has returned home. The Fayette, Ala., native and former head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers was named as the fourth head basketball coach in UAB's 28-year program history on April 7, 2006. Davis replaced former head coach Mike Anderson, who left UAB to become the head coach at the University of Missouri. "Mike brings a tremendous amount of energy and success to our program," Interim Athletic Director Richard Margison said. "His ability to recruit, play a demanding schedule and his style of play have proven to be a winning formula that I know our fans will appreciate and support." Like Margison, Davis is up for the challenge of continuing the UAB men's basketball tradition. "UAB is a program that has been in the national spotlight, and I look forward to the opportunity to make that spotlight shine even brighter," Davis said. "The support the fans and administration have shown for this program is tremendous. I and my players will do everything we can to grow that support and demonstrate it is deserved." Davis was the head coach for Indiana University the past six years, compiling a 115-79 record. His teams typically have played their best basketball during the postseason, evidenced by Davis' 21-10 record in the month of March and his 7-4 NCAA Tournament mark, including a run to the national championship game in 2002. Davis hopes to make the same type of impact at UAB that he did at IU, including the following accomplishments: • Davis was first coach in Indiana history to begin his tenure with three straight 20-plus win seasons and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. • Davis led his team to a postseason appearance in five of his six years at IU, including four NCAA Tournaments. • Davis averaged 19.2 wins per season over his six-year coaching career. • Under Davis' tutelage, Indiana defeated 24 ranked opponents. • Davis has coached three NBA Draft picks. Under Davis, the Hoosiers enjoyed considerable success, including a trip to the 2002 national championship game against Maryland. Although IU lost the contest, 64-52, Davis proved he was ready for big time basketball on a national level. That's excatly what he wants to build at UAB. "I told my players that I'm excited to play and will play anyone at anytime, anywhere," Davis said. "Whoever wants to play us home-and-home, we will do it. I feel like that is an opportunity to fill the seats and get our players ready for March. It will also give us the chance to play nationally-televised games. I don't really care about winning 25 games a year but what is important to me is that we are competing." Named the 25th head coach in Indiana history on Sept. 12, 2000, Davis proved to have the most successful first season of any of his 24 predecessors. His 21 wins were four more than any other first-year IU head coach. His success was not limited to just IU, as his 21 victories ranked him second among first-year head coaches in the country in 2000-01. Davis, selected as the 2001-02 National Coach of the Year by The Charlotte Observer, was one of just 14 of a total of 319 men's basketball coaches that season who guided a team that did not include a single senior. His team was the highest ranked senior-less team, according to the RPI and just one of two to make the NCAA Tournament. The strong regular season and Big Ten Tournament earned the Hoosiers a No. 20 national ranking and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the highest by an Indiana team since 1993. Though new to the role of head coach, Davis already had contributed significantly to the Indiana program. He spent the previous three seasons as an assistant coach with the Hoosiers. His successful recruitment of several of the country's top prep players earned him national recognition at Indiana. In addition to his recruiting success, he was instrumental in the development of several players including A.J. Guyton, the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player in 2000, Kirk Haston, a first-round NBA selection in 2001 and 2002 Big Ten MVP and consensus second team All-American Jared Jeffries, who was the 11th overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. In Davis' three seasons as an IU assistant, the Hoosiers compiled a 63-32 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament all three seasons. 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 NIT Final Four. Davis' coaching tenure with Alabama marked his return to the Crimson Tide. The Fayette, Ala., native spent his collegiate-playing career with the Tide after earning the state's Mr. Basketball honor and All-America status in 1979. He was a standout for four seasons at Alabama and finished his career in the Top 25 on the Crimson Tide's all-time scoring list with 1,211 points. 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 averaged 10.1 points per game for his career and 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. He won Alabama's Hustle Award all four of his seasons in Tuscaloosa 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 in the 1983 NBA Draft. 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. The following season, Davis began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala. He stayed at Miles for the 1989-90 season and then coached in Venezuela, directing the country's national team for two summers, as well as professional teams in that country. Davis returned to the United States and the CBA in 1990 and worked with the Wichita Falls Texans. The first season with the Texans proved to be a championship one. After struggling to a 16-22 record, the club won 16 of its final 18 contests to finish with a 32-24 overall record. In the conference playoffs, the Texans upset both division champions -- Tulsa (3-1) and Albany (4-2). The Texans then edged Quad Cities, 4-3, in a dramatic Finals. The 1991-92 Texans posted a 28-28 overall record and finished second in the Southern Division before losing in the second round of the playoffs to Rapid City, S.D. In 1992-93, Davis helped guide the Texans to a franchise-best 34-22 record and its first-ever Western Division title. The club finished the year with a 21-7 homecourt record. During the 1993-94 season, the two guided the Texans to a second-place finish in the Western Division and the club featured two of the league's top performers in guard Stephen Bardo, the CBA's Defensive Player of the Year, and first team All-CBA selection Henry James. In 1994, the Wichita franchise relocated to Chicago, and 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. He played in 56 games (35 starts) and was second on the team with 31.5 minutes played per outing. Davis shot 80 percent from the free throw line and finished fourth in the league's Defensive Player of the Year voting. The Rockers posted a 28-28 regular season mark and earned a trip to the conference finals. It was there they were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirhanas in three games. During his CBA coaching career, Davis tutored several eventual NBA players such as Ennis Whatley, Derrick Phelps, Bardo, John Lucas, Roy Tarpley, Fred Roberts, James, Elston Turner, Cedric Ball, Walter Bond, David Wesley and Jaren Jackson. Davis was born September 15, 1960, in Fayette, Ala., and is married to the former Tamilya Floyd. The couple has a eight-year-old son, Antoine. Davis is also the father of 21-year-old son, Mike, Jr., who is a redshirt sophomore on the UAB men's basketball team, a daughter Lateesha, 26 and the late Nicole Davis. He left Alabama just a few credits shy of graduating, and eventually earned a degree in telecommunications in 1995 from Thomas Edison College. |
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