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WSU to interview Davis

Posted by Vince

April 3, 2009 3:20 p.m. • 29 comments

COUGARS

Sources in Pullman and Birmingham confirm Washington State University will interview current Alabama-Birmingham and former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Mike Davis on Saturday for the Cougars open head coaching position.

Davis has been at UAB for three seasons, amassing a 60-38 record there. This season, the Blazers finished 22-12, 11-5 and third in Conference USA. They received an NIT bid, losing in the first round at Notre Dame. Before taking over from Mike Anderson at UAB, Davis succeeded Bobby Knight at Indiana in 2000, taking the Hoosiers to the 2002 NCAA championship game, where they lost to Maryland. After a 19-12 record in 2005-06, Davis resigned at Indiana. The Hoosiers were 115-79 in Davis’ six years.

Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk and associate athletic directors John Johnson and Anne McCoy are at the NCAA Final Four in Detroit. The interview with Davis will take place there.

29 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

lbrush on April 03 at 3:47 p.m.
I think this would be a good hire. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I like how the head coach at Saint Mary’s is now ‘not interested’ in the WSU job. Must have heard WSU was ‘not interested’ in interviewing him.
MikeSequim on April 03 at 3:52 p.m.
Very good Coach! Would be very different Basketball than the past 5 years, thats for sure.
Grady on April 03 at 3:54 p.m.
You could do a lot worse than Mike Davis.

But… you have to wonder if we could do better.
Jon on April 03 at 4:50 p.m.
UAB fan comments are not too encouraging.

http://blog.al.com/offthevine/2009/04/is_uabs_mike_davis_joining_the.html
TommyCoug on April 03 at 4:51 p.m.
I always wondered why Indiana “HAD” to get rid of Mike Davis?

He looks and sounds like a “quality” guy!

A person out of the ordinary and off the radar…what a concept!

GO COUGS!!
bson25 on April 03 at 4:56 p.m.
I just see Davis as the type that would bolt to a new program at the first sign of success.

Also, watchin UAB made me want to puke. They take the worst shots…

Watching Bone’s run and gun system at Portland State I saw a MUCH better shot selection.
sammamishcoug on April 03 at 6:43 p.m.
HIRE KEN BONE!!!!!

If they hire Mike Davis they will go back to the Paul Graham years.

His only success at Indiana was with Bob Knight’s recruits.
kaiczar on April 04 at 2:28 a.m.
Someone is not seriously saying “Mike Davis will return us to the Paul Graham days” and that Ken Bone won’t? Bone will not — I repeat — WILL NOT (and hopefully if he gets hired, he’s reading this as a challenge) get the quality of basketball players he needs in his system that will compete in the Pac-10. Anyone that knows ANYTHING will realize that Ken Bone is “Paul Graham Jr.”, not Mike Davis.

As far as a coach bailing a few years, we’re the Washington State Cougars. 99% of coaches are going to bail… lets go with whomever can continue building a program and we’ll find a long term fix later.
Hoosiergreg on April 04 at 6:28 a.m.
Wow! I can’t believe you would even think about going from Tony Bennett to a Mike Davis! What a mistake. If you make this hire you will learn soon enough that the man can’t coach and in spite of his own proclamations about recruiting that help is always “on the way.” Unlike our super ridiculous hire of Kelvin Sampson, Davis is a good human being and a nice guy. From all accounts you won’t need to worry about any scandals. But he is NOT a good coach. You can do sooooo much better.
sammamishcoug on April 04 at 6:37 a.m.
Check out the UAB scout.com site. They want him gone ASAP. This would be a huge mistake and take the program back to square 1.
IUHOOPSFAN on April 04 at 8:53 a.m.
Here are the 2 cents of an IU grad who watched Davis for long enough. Mike Davis is a good and decent guy, but a disaster as the head of a basketball program. First, he’s never satisfied with his job. Even when at IU, that job wasn’t good enough. He said he wanted to coach in the NBA within one year of getting the IU job, saying that the NBA was his ultimate goal. Now, apparently UAB’s not good enough. Davis’ continuing desire to move around can’t help his recruiting.

He also doesn’t quite understand recruiting. He always went after the very top players in the country when he was head coach at IU, and when he couldn’t get them (and he never did), he was left scraping the junior college circuit at the last minute for far lesser players. He just assumed that every one of the top 20 players in the country would absolutely want to play for him … but it never happened. So his teams end up with several players who don’t necessarily play well together. He had been successful at recruiting when he recruited for Bobby Knight, but not when he recruited for IU as a head coach.

As for in game coaching, Davis constantly whined to officials and complained incessantly and demonstrably, rather than focusing on winning the game. It always seemed like he would lose his focus at a crucial moment in the game. He taught good defense (especially taking a charge), but he has no offensive philosophy and players just stand around and don’t move at all.

I understood UAB’s interest in Davis - he’s from there. But why Washington State would want him I have no idea. Bobby Knight first selected Davis to help recruiting in the south, and in that role Davis did a nice job. I believe Davis had a huge part in D.J. White coming to Indiana. But even when Davis recruited well for IU, he was recruiting for Knight and not really for himself. If I’m WSU, I stay far away from Davis.
oldhurryinghoosier on April 04 at 9:08 a.m.
Mike Davis is the absolute worst coach in D-1. He brags about recruiting but doesn’t recruit. He is a terrible game coach and has no idea how to make adjustments. Academics were a big problem at UAB with several ineligibilities. He is bad for PR as he throws his players under the bus when he loses. His interviews are atrocious and he struggles to communicate his thoughts. You folks do not deserve this. Read what fans think about him on the IU and UAB basketball boards.
I have been an active college bb fan for over 60 years and have a good knowledge of coaches and players. Davis is a loser and always looking for greener grass.
Good luck on getting a good coach who you can be proud of when he speaks and coaches.
dickkenn on April 04 at 11:57 a.m.
How about wsu promoting our best existing assistant allready here? These assistants have a friendship with the existing recruits and also know how to recruit nation wide plus other countries. Just look how gonzaga came out over the years with promoting there own assistants? Remember Tony Bennett was an assistant under his father with no head coaching experience. I believe there are several wsu assistants that would and could carry on, who knows maybe better than whom ever they bring in. GO COUGS
dickkenn on April 04 at 12:03 p.m.
I would like to add one more thought to my last blog. To hire from within will not cost a million dollors also. Just a thought.
pdxcoug02 on April 04 at 6:52 p.m.
Can’t believe Sterk would even consider bringing Mike Davis to the Palouse. Remember at Indiana, this is a head coach that ran out to the middle of the court during the critical moments of a big game, simply cuz he didn’t agree with a call.
Mr. Sterk, listen to the comments posted on the UAB site; the fans would be ecstatic to be rid of Mike Davis. And I fully agree, if he wasn’t content at Indiana, one of the premier basketball programs in the country, he’ll jump from Pullman at the first chance.
I’ve questioned Sterk’s integrity over the past few years, and this would only compound my negative view of our AD.