Mississippi Valley State Names Mike Davis New Men’s Basketball Coach
ITTA BENA, Miss. — Mississippi Valley State University announced the hiring of Mike Davis as the school’s new head men’s basketball coach, according to university officials. Davis, a seasoned coach with more than three decades of experience, will lead the Delta Devils program.
Throughout his career, Davis has amassed a 412-360 record as a head coach at Indiana, UAB, Texas Southern, and Detroit Mercy. He has guided teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and secured nine 20-win seasons. Davis’s teams have posted winning records in 15 of his 24 campaigns, highlighting his success at building competitive programs.
“We are excited to welcome Coach Davis to Mississippi Valley State University,” said athletic director Dr. Alecia Shields-Gadson. “His experience, leadership, and championship pedigree make him the right person to lead our men’s basketball program into a new era.”
Davis’s most notable tenure was at Indiana University, where he succeeded Bobby Knight. In 2002, he led the Hoosiers to the NCAA National Championship game and shared the Big Ten regular-season title, marking one of the program’s most memorable runs. His coaching accolades also include Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2011 and multiple Southwestern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors during his time at Texas Southern.
While coaching at Texas Southern, Davis’s teams won four regular-season conference titles and four SWAC Tournament championships, advancing to four NCAA Tournaments. In 2018, Texas Southern earned its first NCAA Tournament victory with a win over North Carolina Central in the First Four. He also coached his son, Antoine Davis, at Detroit Mercy, where the player became the second-leading scorer in NCAA history.
“I am honored and excited to lead Mississippi Valley State’s men’s basketball program,” Davis said. “This is a proud program with a strong tradition, and I look forward to building a culture of discipline, toughness, and success. Our goal is to compete for championships and represent this university with pride.”
Davis’s coaching career began as an assistant at Wichita Falls Texans and Chicago Rockers in the early 1990s. He has also served as an assistant at Alabama, Indiana, and Memphis before taking head coaching roles. He played college basketball at the University of Alabama and was named Alabama’s Mr. Basketball in 1979.
Davis and his wife, Tamilya, have one son, Antoine, and he is also the father of Mike Davis Jr. and Lateesha. He most recently served as an assistant coach at Memphis from 2024 to 2026.
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