Davis has TSU men's hoops program back on track

Men: Davis refuses to let NCAA sanctions stand in the way of getting program back on track

HOUSTON, Texas  --  In the middle stages of what was to become an 11-game losing streak, Texas Southern University offered then-interim men's basketball coach Mike Davis a four-year contract extension. Dr. Charles McClelland, the athletic director, explains it was clear to him Davis was the right man for a tough job.

For Davis, the fit felt right as well, never mind where he had been or the obstacles that lay ahead. Less than half a year after he walked on to the TSU campus for the first time, having never met any of his players - or superiors - face to face, he signed on for the long haul.

 

"I got the job so late I couldn't immediately change the mindset of how I wanted them to play," said the former Indiana and Alabama-Birmingham coach, whose record with the Tigers fell to 1-13 on Jan. 2 after a 15-point lead didn't hold up in a 63-57 loss in TSU's Southwestern Athletic Conference opener against Southern at Baton Rouge, La. "It took some time for them to buy into everything, from how we were going to play to how we were going to work.

"There was a lot that had to be changed. They went from playing zone (defense) for a couple of years to a man-to-man, and I don't like quick shots, which had been their style. I like that extra pass. I like sharing the basketball and rebounding hard. Everything was totally different for them. It wasn't until January that we started playing like should have been playing in November."

So you can imagine how ...

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