Ole Miss hires MTSU’s Davis
Kermit Davis turned Middle Tennessee State University into one of the best mid-major men’s basketball programs in the country during his 16 seasons coaching the Blue Raiders.
Ole Miss believes he can have the same kind of success in the Southeastern Conference.
On Thursday, Ole Miss announced the 58-year-old Davis will be the university’s next men’s basketball coach. A native of Leakesville, Miss., he will be officially introduced on campus Monday, though he will continue to lead MTSU as long as it remains in the National Invitation Tournament. The Blue Raiders have a second-round game Sunday at Louisville.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be the basketball coach at the University of Mississippi,” Davis said in a release, thanking Ole Miss chancellor Jeffrey Vitter and athletic director Ross Bjork for giving him “the opportunity to lead such a prestigious program in the best basketball league in America.”
Davis led MTSU to the NCAA tournament in 2013, ’16 and ’17, scoring upset wins over No. 2 seed Michigan State in 2016 and No. 5 seed Minnesota in 2017. The Blue Raiders have won seven regular-season or tournament league titles since 2012 — two in the Sun Belt Conference and the others in Conference USA.
Davis has also coached at Idaho and Texas A&M. He resigned in 1991 after just one season at Texas A&M because of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations. The program was eventually given two years of probation and a oneyear postseason ban. But there were no similar problems at MTSU, where he slowly built a powerhouse.
Davis will take over a program that finished 12-20 overall and 5-13 in the SEC this season. He replaces Andy Kennedy, who resigned in February after nearly 12 years leading the Rebels.
Ole Miss was often competitive under Kennedy but made the NCAA tournament just twice during his tenure. That level of success was acceptable when the Rebels played games at Tad Smith Coliseum, which was considered one of the SEC’s worst facilities. But Ole Miss built a $100 million arena a few years ago called The Pavilion, and expectations soared.