Ten years ago, Mike Davis was the head coach at Indiana University, leading the Hoosiers to the program’s most recent Final Four appearance in 2002. IU ended falling to Maryland in the national championship.
Fast forward a decade and Tom Crean and Indiana sit a top the AP poll as the No. 1 team in the nation. On the same day as the preseason poll was released, Davis inked a four-year extension with Texas Southern.
Davis, who spent six seasons as the head coach of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, was named the interim head coach back on Aug. 2.
“We’re very pleased with the transition that coach Davis has made,” Texas Southern Director of Athletics Dr. Charles McClelland said. “He’s a person of extreme character and integrity. He’s come in and embraced the program, and the student-athletes have embraced him. It was apparently evident that he’s the person to lead the program, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose someone such as coach Davis and not capitalize on the momentum that we have with him being as a part of our program.”
Davis holds a career coaching record of 237-151 with a five NCAA Tournament appearances.
Texas Southern finished 2011-2012 with a 15-18 record (12-6 SWAC). The Tigers open the season on the road against Boise State on Nov. 11.
Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne