Not only are the Pistons facing significant losses in Detroit, but Detroit Mercy is also aiming for records. The noteworthy aspect lies in the fact that Mike Davis, who once coached a team led by NBA journeyman Jared Jeffries to the NCAA Championship game, achieved this alongside Tom Cloverdale as the second-best player.
This accomplishment gains historical significance, considering the limited number of coaches who have guided teams to a National Championship game since the field expanded to 64 teams. The list is surprisingly shorter than one might think. Moreover, among these coaches, very few led teams with a comparable lack of talent to the one Davis took to the championship. Even Brad Stevens’ first Butler team had NBA all-star Gordan Hayward and another NBA player in Shelvin Mack on both occasions.
What adds to the remarkable nature of Davis’s achievements is that he triumphed over a defending champion Duke team featuring Carlos Boozer, Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones, and Chris Duhon. It was arguably one of the most heavily favored teams he defeated in the process. Additionally, Davis secured victory against Kelvin Sampson’s formidable Oklahoma team in the Final Four. As recently as the 2015 season, Davis led a Texas Southern program to beat a Michigan State team that reached the Final Four, demonstrating his coaching prowess. The program in question, Texas Southern, had undergone an impressive journey under Davis, making it to four NCAA tournaments in five seasons. The question remains: what led to this decline in success?
Indiana
The Hoosiers enjoy a reputation as a blue-blood program, although that distinction is now firmly in the rearview mirror. Mike Davis’s coaching tenure still represents the high-water mark for Indiana in the 21st century. Even during the later years of Bob Knight’s leadership, Indiana experienced a notable decline. In the last six seasons under Knight, the team failed to advance to the Sweet 16, and before Davis took them to the championship game, they had only secured two tournament victories.
It’s crucial to note that Davis inherited a program that was not considered a juggernaut at the time. Despite this, he propelled Indiana to considerable success. Since Davis’s departure, Indiana has encountered increased challenges in maintaining the level of which he was even fired for.
Indiana
W
L
%
NCAA Wins
Bob Knight (last 6 years)
123
67
64.7
2
Mike Davis (6 Years)
115
79
59.3
7
Since (17 Years)
334
242
57.9
9
Big 10 Play
W
L
%
NCAA Wins
Bob Knight (last 6 years)
60
42
0.588
2
Mike Davis (6 Years)
55
41
0.573
7
Since (17 Years)
159
174
0.477
9
During his six-season tenure in Indiana, Davis led the team to the NCAA Tournament four times and one NIT appearance, clinching victory in seven NCAA games. This performance far exceeded the achievements of the previous six years under Knight, marking a significant improvement. In the concluding season of his tenure, Davis guided the team to the NCAA Tournament as a 6th seed, securing a notable tournament win. Judging by contemporary Indiana standards, his coaching tenure should indeed be regarded as a major success.
UAB & Texas Southern
During his tenure at UAB, Davis guided the team to three NIT appearances and one NCAA Tournament in six seasons. This achievement was particularly commendable considering that some of those NIT teams were of NCAA bubble quality. Additionally, the Conference USA (CUSA) underwent challenges as it lost its best teams, leaving UAB as one of the primary contenders amidst Memphis’ peak years under Calipari. The competitiveness of the NIT teams and the circumstances within CUSA made it difficult to secure at-large bids, especially when faced with the formidable Memphis team in the conference tournament, often on their home court.
Upon his move to Texas Southern, Davis continued to showcase his coaching prowess. In six seasons, he led the team to four NCAA Tournaments and one NIT appearance, securing a conference regular season or tournament championship each season. Across his 18 seasons at Indiana, UAB, and Texas Southern, Davis accumulated an impressive record of nine NCAA Tournament appearances and five NIT appearances, averaging 19.5 wins per season. This included an outstanding nine NCAA Tournament victories, culminating in a championship game appearance – a feat achieved by very few coaches. Even at this juncture, one could argue that Davis had carved out one of the more underrated coaching careers in the history of the sport.
Detroit Mercy
Upon his move to Detroit Mercy, where one would assume there was more potential, Davis brought his son, who had decommitted from Houston, and played for him for five seasons, boasting an impressive career average of 25.4 points per game. While his son had a penchant for being a high-volume shooter, he exhibited remarkable efficiency over the last three seasons with a .560 true shooting percentage each year, contributing to an overall career true shooting percentage of .550%. This level of efficiency for a high-usage guard is considered quite solid.
Despite the potential impact on team dynamics due to the high number of shots, it’s evident that Antoine Davis’s scoring prowess was crucial for the team. In the last season, he made 4.8 three-pointers at a 41.2% rate and averaged over six free throw attempts per game, shooting over 90%. Given his exceptional performance, it’s challenging to attribute any issues to his individual play.
Antoine Davis, by no means, was the cause of the challenges Detroit Mercy faced under Mike Davis. The current struggles, with a win percentage of just 36% over six years and an ongoing 0-17 streak, raise questions about the overall program. While it’s acknowledged that Detroit Mercy is not a powerhouse program, having last made the NCAA Tournament in 2012, the current level of performance seems unusually subpar.
In the preceding five seasons, Davis had access to talent at Detroit to complement his son. Players like Noah Waterman, currently a starter averaging 11 points per game for a top-ten BYU team, were teammates with Davis for two seasons. DJ Harvey, who averaged 11 points per game at Notre Dame for one season, and other high-level recruits from various prestigious programs were part of the mix. Despite this talent pool, Detroit failed to secure more than 14 wins in any of the five years.
This puzzling decline in performance raises questions, especially considering Davis’s track record of putting together competitive and solid teams in his coaching career. The disparity between the proven talent available and the team’s lackluster outcomes remains an enigma even prior to this debacle.
