Kermit John Davis Jr. (born December 14, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head coach for the Ole Miss Rebels from 2018 to 2023. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Middle Tennessee for 16 seasons. His head coaching experience also includes brief stops at Idaho (twice)[1] and Texas A&M.[2]
 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 14, 1959 Leakesville, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1978–1980 | Phillips County CC |
| 1980–1982 | Mississippi State |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1983–1984 | Mississippi State (assistant) |
| 1984–1986 | Southwest Mississippi CC |
| 1986–1988 | Idaho (assistant) |
| 1988–1990 | Idaho |
| 1990–1991 | Texas A&M |
| 1991–1993 | Chipola JC (assistant) |
| 1993–1994 | Chipola JC |
| 1994–1996 | Utah State (assistant) |
| 1996–1997 | Idaho |
| 1997–2002 | LSU (assistant) |
| 2002–2018 | Middle Tennessee |
| 2018–2023 | Ole Miss |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 477–317 (.601) |
| Tournaments | 2–6 (NCAA Division I) 3–3 (NIT) 0–2 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 C-USA regular season (2014, 2017, 2018) 2 C-USA tournament (2016, 2017) 2 Sun Belt regular season (2012, 2013) 2 Sun Belt East Division (2012, 2013) 2 Big Sky tournament (1989, 1990) 2 Big Sky regular season (1989, 1990) | |
| Awards | |
| SEC Coach of the Year (2019) C-USA Coach of the Year (2017) Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2003) Big Sky Coach of the Year (1989) | |
Early life and family
editDavis's father, Kermit Sr., was the head coach at Mississippi State University for seven seasons, ending in 1977.[3] He was an alumnus of the school and was promoted to head coach at age 34 after four years as an assistant for the Bulldogs. In his first season in 1971, he was named SEC Coach of the Year.[4]
The younger Davis graduated from Starkville High School[5] in 1978 and then played at Phillips County Community College in Arkansas for two years, and transferred to hometown Mississippi State, where he played two seasons and earned a bachelor's degree in 1982 and a master's in 1984 while a graduate assistant.
He and his wife, Betty, have two daughters, Ally and Claire.
Coaching career
editWhen promoted from assistant to head coach at Idaho in 1988 at age 28, Davis was the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I.[6] He had been an assistant for two seasons with the Vandals under new and first-time head coach Tim Floyd, who left for New Orleans. Floyd had rejuvenated the program and under Davis, Idaho had consecutive 25–6 (.806) seasons in 1989 and 1990, winning the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles to make the NCAA tournament both years. Davis left the Palouse for Texas A&M of the Southwest Conference in March 1990,[7][8] but resigned a year later after an 8–21 (.276) first season in which he committed rules violations that landed A&M on two years probation and resulted in a two-year show-cause order against Davis himself.[9][10] After three years at Chipola Junior College and two seasons as an assistant at Utah State, Davis returned to Idaho as head coach in March 1996, then left a year later to become associate head coach under John Brady at LSU.[11][12]
Davis became head coach at Middle Tennessee in 2002. He led winning records in his first four seasons but first made a postseason tournament in 2010 at the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Middle Tennessee followed that with appearances in the 2012 NIT and 2013 NCAA tournament. Middle Tennessee moved from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA for the 2013–14 season. Following an appearance in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament, Middle Tennessee made the 2016 NCAA tournament by way of winning the C-USA tournament. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a #15 seed, Middle Tennessee upset #2 seed (and AP-ranked #2) Michigan State 90–81.[13] Middle Tennessee then lost the second-round game to #10 seed Syracuse 75–50. The following season Middle Tennessee made it to the second round a second consecutive year by upsetting #5 seed Minnesota, but again losing in the second round, this time to #4 seed (and AP-ranked #21) Butler.
At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, Davis was named the head coach at Ole Miss. [14] Davis led the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament in his first season, where they lost to Oklahoma in the first round.
On February 24, 2023, the University of Mississippi had announced that it and Davis had "mutually agreed to part ways".[15]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Vandals (Big Sky Conference) (1988–1990) | |||||||||
| 1988–89 | Idaho | 25–6 | 13–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 1989–90 | Idaho | 25–6 | 13–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Idaho (first): | 50–12 (.806) | 26–6 (.813) | |||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies (Southwest Conference) (1990–1991) | |||||||||
| 1990–91 | Texas A&M | 8–21 | 2–14 | 9th | |||||
| Texas A&M: | 8–21 (.276) | 2–14 (.125) | |||||||
| Idaho Vandals (Big West Conference) (1996–1997) | |||||||||
| 1996–97 | Idaho | 13–17 | 5–11 | 5th (East) | |||||
| Idaho (second): | 13–17 (.433) | 5–11 (.313) | |||||||
| Idaho (total): | 63–29 (.685) | 31–17 (.646) | |||||||
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Sun Belt Conference) (2002–2013) | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | Middle Tennessee | 16–14 | 9–5 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2003–04 | Middle Tennessee | 17–12 | 8–6 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2004–05 | Middle Tennessee | 19–12 | 7–7 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2005–06 | Middle Tennessee | 16–12 | 8–6 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2006–07 | Middle Tennessee | 15–17 | 8–10 | 5th (East) | |||||
| 2007–08 | Middle Tennessee | 17–15 | 11–7 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2008–09 | Middle Tennessee | 18–14 | 10–8 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2009–10 | Middle Tennessee | 19–14 | 13–5 | 2nd (East) | CIT First Round | ||||
| 2010–11 | Middle Tennessee | 16–16 | 10–6 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2011–12 | Middle Tennessee | 27–7 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | NIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2012–13 | Middle Tennessee | 28–6 | 19–1 | 1st (East) | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
| Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Conference USA) (2013–2018) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | Middle Tennessee | 24–9 | 13–3 | T–1st | |||||
| 2014–15 | Middle Tennessee | 19–17 | 9–9 | 6th | CIT First Round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Middle Tennessee | 25–10 | 13–5 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Middle Tennessee | 31–5 | 17–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Middle Tennessee | 25–8 | 16–2 | 1st | NIT Second Round | ||||
| Middle Tennessee: | 332–188 (.638) | 185–83 (.690) | |||||||
| Ole Miss Rebels (Southeastern Conference) (2018–2023) | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | Ole Miss | 20–13 | 10–8 | T–6th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Ole Miss | 15–17 | 6–12 | 12th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Ole Miss | 16–12 | 10–8 | 6th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2021–22 | Ole Miss | 13–19 | 4–14 | 13th | |||||
| 2022–23[a] | Ole Miss | 10–18 | 2–13 | 13th | |||||
| Ole Miss: | 74–79 (.484) | 32–55 (.368) | |||||||
| Total: | 477–317 (.601) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- ^ Ole Miss parted ways with Davis with three games remaining in the regular season.
References
edit- ^ Vogt, Andrea (March 16, 1996). "UI to name basketball coach today". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
- ^ Stalwick, Howie (March 21, 1991). "Davis says he violated some rules". Spokane Chronicle. p. C1.
- ^ "Mississippi State's Davis resigns". St. Petersburg Times. March 19, 1977. p. 3C.
- ^ Shearer, Ed (March 17, 1971). "Kermit Davis honored as SEC coach of the year". Waycross Journal-Herald. Associated Press. p. P-7.
- ^ Elkins, Ashley. "Kermit Davis story". Daily Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ Pierce, Oliver (October 26, 1988). "Davis isn't feeling pressure". Idahonian. Moscow. p. 8A.
- ^ "Davis now an Aggie; UI begins search". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1B.
- ^ "Davis hopeful he's getting in on resurgence of SWC hoop". Idahonian. Moscow. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1C.
- ^ "Davis resigns as coach of Texas A&M Aggies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 16, 1991. p. 1B.
- ^ Blanchette, John (March 31, 1993). "Idaho can't hire Davis if image means anything". Spokesman-Review. p. C1.
- ^ Wickline, Michael R. (May 17, 1997). "Mosman bows out of bonus decision". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 5A.
- ^ O'Neal, Shawn (April 2, 1997). "Davis gone, again". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. p. 1B.
- ^ Skretta, Dave (March 18, 2016). "Middle Tennessee St upsets No. 2 seed Michigan State, 90–81". Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
- ^ Staff (March 15, 2018). "Ole Miss announces Kermit Davis as Rebels' next coach". espn.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
- ^ "Ole Miss Announces Change in Men's Basketball Leadership".