Kermit Davis

Last updated

Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis.jpg
Biographical details
Born (1959-12-14) December 14, 1959 (age 64)
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)
1988–1990Idaho
1990–1991 Texas A&M
1991–1993 Chipola JC (assistant)
1993–1994Chipola JC
1994–1996 Utah State (assistant)
1996–1997Idaho
1997–2002 LSU (assistant)
2002–2018 Middle Tennessee
2018–2023 Ole Miss
Head coaching record
Overall477–317 (.601)
Tournaments2–6 (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)

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]

Contents

Early life and family

Davis'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

When 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

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Idaho Vandals (Big Sky Conference)(1988–1990)
1988–89 Idaho 25–613–31st NCAA Division I Round of 64
1989–90 Idaho 25–613–31st 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 8–212–149th
Texas A&M:8–21 (.276)2–14 (.125)
Idaho Vandals (Big West Conference)(1996–1997)
1996–97 Idaho 13–175–115th (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 16–149–52nd (East)
2003–04 Middle Tennessee 17–128–63rd (East)
2004–05 Middle Tennessee 19–127–73rd (East)
2005–06 Middle Tennessee 16–128–62nd (East)
2006–07 Middle Tennessee 15–178–105th (East)
2007–08 Middle Tennessee 17–1511–73rd (East)
2008–09 Middle Tennessee 18–1410–83rd (East)
2009–10 Middle Tennessee 19–1413–52nd (East) CIT First Round
2010–11 Middle Tennessee 16–1610–62nd (East)
2011–12 Middle Tennessee 27–714–21st (East) NIT Quarterfinals
2012–13 Middle Tennessee 28–619–11st (East) NCAA Division I First Four
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (Conference USA)(2013–2018)
2013–14 Middle Tennessee 24–913–3T–1st
2014–15 Middle Tennessee 19–179–96th CIT First Round
2015–16 Middle Tennessee 25–1013–52nd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2016–17 Middle Tennessee 31–517–11st NCAA Division I Round of 32
2017–18 Middle Tennessee 25–816–21st NIT Second Round
Middle Tennessee:332–188 (.638)185–83 (.690)
Ole Miss Rebels (Southeastern Conference)(2018–2023)
2018–19 Ole Miss 20–1310–8T–6th NCAA Division I Round of 64
2019–20 Ole Miss 15–176–1212th
2020–21 Ole Miss 16–1210–86th NIT First Round
2021–22 Ole Miss 13–194–1413th
2022–23 [lower-alpha 1] Ole Miss 10–182–1313th
Ole Miss:74–79 (.484)32–55 (.368)
Total:477–317 (.601)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

  1. ↑ Ole Miss parted ways with Davis with three games remaining in the regular season.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Eustachy</span> American basketball coach (born 1955)

Larry Robert Eustachy is an American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the Colorado State Rams (2012–2018). He was previously the head coach at Idaho (1990–1993),Utah State(1993–1998),Iowa State(1998–2003), and Southern Mississippi(2004–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donnie Tyndall</span> American basketball coach

Donald Joseph Tyndall is an American basketball coach currently working as the head coach for Chipola College of the NJCAA. Tyndall played college basketball at Iowa Central Community College and Morehead State and has been a basketball coach since 1994. His teams are known for pressing and playing an unconventional match-up zone, a highly successful variation of the defensive system employed by coach Rick Pitino at Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball</span> Mens basketball team that represents the University of Mississippi

The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represents the University of Mississippi in the sport of basketball. The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They started the 2015–16 season playing home games at Tad Smith Coliseum on the university's Oxford campus, but played their final game in that facility on December 22, 2015. The Rebels opened a new on-campus arena, The Pavilion at Ole Miss, on January 7, 2016. The Rebels were led by 12-year head coach Andy Kennedy until his resignation on February 18, 2018. Tony Madlock, an assistant under Kennedy, served as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On March 15, 2018, the school hired former Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis as the new head coach and was formally introduced on March 19. Davis was fired in his sixth season on February 24, 2023, after posting a 2–13 conference record with two games remaining on the schedule. Assistant coach Win Case took over as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

The 1989 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals, led by first-year head coach John L. Smith, were members of the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Perry</span> American basketball player and coach

Leonard Perry Jr. is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach at the University of the Pacific. Originally from Dallas, Perry played college basketball at McLennan Community College and the University of Idaho. As a senior at Idaho playing under head coach Larry Eustachy, Perry was the starting point guard on the 1991 Big Sky Conference Tournament championship team that appeared in the 1991 NCAA Tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Insell</span>

Matthew Ollen Insell is the current Associate Head Coach of Women's Basketball at Middle Tennessee State University. Insell was the head coach of the Ole Miss women's basketball team from 2013 to 2018 before he was let go by Ole Miss following the 2018 season. Prior to his time at Ole Miss, Insell spent 5 years as an Assistant Coach at the University of Kentucky and one year as the Director of Basketball Operations at Louisiana Tech University. On May 7, 2018, Matt Insell was hired to work as assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State University. September 20, 2022, Matt Insell was promoted to Associate Head Coach at Middle Tennessee State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Washington State Cougars football team</span> American college football season

The 1989 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Mike Price, the Cougars compiled a 6–5 record, and outscored their opponents 351 to 268.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2017–18 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 16th-year head coach Kermit Davis, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 25–8 overall, 16–2 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. In the C-USA tournament, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by Southern Miss in overtime. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, the Blue Raiders received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Vermont in the first round before losing to Louisville in the second round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–18 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2017–18 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represented the University of Mississippi in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, their 108th basketball season. They were coached by Andy Kennedy for the first 27 games of the season before he left the position on February 19, 2018. The Rebels named assistant coach Tony Madlock interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The Rebels played their second full season in The Pavilion at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi as members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 5–13 in SEC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to South Carolina.

The 1991 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1991 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Vandals were led by third-year head coach John L. Smith, were members of the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2018–19 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represented the University of Mississippi in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, their 109th basketball season. The Rebels were led by first-year, SEC Coach of the Year, Kermit Davis. The Rebels played their games at The Pavilion at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi as members of the Southeastern Conference. The Rebels had an eight-win improvement from their previous season, which was eleventh best in Division I. The Rebels returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, where they were defeated in the first round by 9th seeded Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018–19 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 2018–19 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blue Raiders, led by 1st-year head coach Nick McDevitt, played their home games at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as members of Conference USA.

The 1987–88 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by second-year head coach Tim Floyd and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

The 1988–89 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by first-year head coach Kermit Davis and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

The 1989–90 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by second-year head coach Kermit Davis and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

The 1990–91 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by first-year head coach Larry Eustachy and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

The 1989–90 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University for the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars were members of the Pacific-10 Conference and played their home games on campus at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987–88 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 1987–88 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team represented Boise State University during the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncos were led by fifth-year head coach Bobby Dye and played their home games on campus at the BSU Pavilion in Boise, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1988–89 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 1988–89 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team represented Boise State University during the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncos were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Dye and played their home games on campus at the BSU Pavilion in Boise, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990–91 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

The 1990–91 Boise State Broncos men's basketball team represented Boise State University during the 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncos were led by eighth-year head coach Bobby Dye and played their home games on campus at the BSU Pavilion in Boise, Idaho.

References

  1. ↑ Vogt, Andrea (March 16, 1996). "UI to name basketball coach today". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 1B.
  2. ↑ Stalwick, Howie (March 21, 1991). "Davis says he violated some rules". Spokane Chronicle. p. C1.
  3. ↑ "Mississippi State's Davis resigns". St. Petersburg Times. March 19, 1977. p. 3C.
  4. ↑ Shearer, Ed (March 17, 1971). "Kermit Davis honored as SEC coach of the year". Waycross Journal-Herald. Associated Press. p. P-7.
  5. ↑ Elkins, Ashley. "Kermit Davis story". Daily Journal. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  6. ↑ Pierce, Oliver (October 26, 1988). "Davis isn't feeling pressure". Idahonian. Moscow. p. 8A.
  7. ↑ "Davis now an Aggie; UI begins search". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1B.
  8. ↑ "Davis hopeful he's getting in on resurgence of SWC hoop". Idahonian. Moscow. Associated Press. March 29, 1990. p. 1C.
  9. ↑ "Davis resigns as coach of Texas A&M Aggies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. March 16, 1991. p. 1B.
  10. ↑ Blanchette, John (March 31, 1993). "Idaho can't hire Davis if image means anything". Spokesman-Review. p. C1.
  11. ↑ Wickline, Michael R. (May 17, 1997). "Mosman bows out of bonus decision". Lewiston Morning Tribune. p. 5A.
  12. ↑ O'Neal, Shawn (April 2, 1997). "Davis gone, again". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. p. 1B.
  13. ↑ Skretta, Dave (March 18, 2016). "Middle Tennessee St upsets No. 2 seed Michigan State, 90–81". Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
  14. ↑ Staff (March 15, 2018). "Ole Miss announces Kermit Davis as Rebels' next coach". espn.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ole Miss Announces Change in Men's Basketball Leadership".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.