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Detroit Mercy to hire Mike Davis as head coach

Texas Southern v North Carolina Central

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 14: Head coach Mike Davis of the Texas Southern Tigers reacts in the first half against the North Carolina Central Eagles during the First Four of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 14, 2018 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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After six seasons as the head coach at Texas Southern, head coach Mike Davis informed the school Tuesday that he will be stepping down in order to become the next head coach at Detroit. News of the move was first reported by Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston.

During his six seasons at the helm Davis led Texas Southern to four SWAC regular season titles, four SWAC tournament titles and four NCAA tournament appearances. Davis leaves the school, which last season reached the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season, with an overall record of 115 wins and 89 losses.

In addition to his program’s success against SWAC competition, Davis was also known for his ambitious scheduling that saw Texas Southern take on many of the nation’s top programs on an annual basis. There were two benefits to the approach: the guarantee money gained from those games helped the athletic department as a whole from a financial standpoint, and the rigorous schedule helped prepare Davis’ teams for conference play.

Detroit will be Davis’ fourth Division I head coaching job, a career that began as Bob Knight’s replacement at Indiana in 2000. In his second season at Indiana, Davis led the Hoosiers to the national title game where the team lost to Maryland. After six seasons at Indiana Davis would land at UAB, where he led the program to one NCAA tournament appearance and one Conference USA title in six years.

The Detroit program Davis takes over has fallen on hard times in recent years, with the program having recorded just one winning season since winning 20 games during the 2012-13 campaign. Davis takes over the job vacated by former Michigan assistant Bacari Alexander, who was relieved of his duties as head coach in late March after just two seasons at the helm.

UDM finished the 2017-18 season with an 8-24 record, going 4-14 in Horizon League play. Just one of the team’s top six scorers, guard Jermaine Jackson Jr., is currently still with the program. Jackson is the son of Jermaine Jackson Sr., who served as Detroit’s interim head coach following Alexander’s firing.