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Texas Southern rewards Mike Davis with contract extension

Mike Davis

Texas Southern head coach Mike Davis directs his players in the second overtime period of Colorado’s 85-80 double overtime victory over Texas Southern in an NCAA college basketball game in Boulder, Colo., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

AP

Texas Southern head coach Mike Davis took over the program last season under circumstances that were anything but ideal. Thanks to poor Academic Progress Rate (APR) marks, the Tigers were banned from postseason play for the 2012-13 season.

That didn’t stop Davis’ team from having a successful season in the SWAC, as Texas Southern went 16-2 in league play (17-14 overall) and won the outright regular season title. For that Davis has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension through 2018, with the news being announced by the school Friday afternoon.

“We were extremely happy with the outcome of last season during the circumstances in which we brought Coach Davis in,” Director of Athletics Dr. Charles McClelland said in a statement released by the school.

“He’s proven, not only to be a great coach, but a great leader and more importantly a great person and role model. It was incumbent on us to solidify one of the best coaches in my opinion that we could get at this point in time.”

Last week Texas Southern announced that for the first time since 2004, the APR scores of every team either meet or exceed current NCAA standards. With the necessary adjustments being made on that front, Davis and his staff can now concentrate on the task of getting Texas Southern back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003.

Both Omar Strong (17.0 ppg) and Fred Sturdivant (11.1, 8.2 rpg) have graduated, leaving guards Ray Penn (12.2, 5.7 apg) and Lawrence Johnson-Danner (8.5) as the team’s leading returning scorers. Replacing two of the SWAC’s best players in Strong and Sturdivant will be difficult, but unlike last season they can win the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.