Former Alcorn State head coach Davey L. Whitney Sr. dies at 85

COACH DAVEY L. WHITNEY Sr.
National Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer
Courtesy: Alcorn State University Athletics 

BILOXI, Mississippi -- Before Coppin State in 1997 and Hampton in 2001, there was the 1980 Alcorn State Braves. That team became the first from an HBCU to win a game in the Division I NCAA tournament. Sunday it was announced by the school that the man who led that team, Davey “The Wiz” Whitney, passed away at 85 at his home in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Whitney led the Braves from 1969-89 and from 1996-2003, winning 566 games and 12 SWAC title during those years. Prior to taking over at Alcorn State, he was the head coach at Texas Southern from 1964-69. In that 1980 NCAA tournament appearance, Alcorn State beat South Alabama in the first round before falling to one-seed LSU in the second round.

Whitney was at the helm for all six of the program’s NCAA tournament appearances, the last of which coming in 2002. Whitney’s best player during his time at Alcorn State was forward Larry Smith, the leading scorer on that 1980 team, and he played 13 seasons in the NBA from 1981-93.

Whitney also played shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League baseball franchise, in the early 1950's. Whitney replaced the late Ernie Banks as the Monarchs' starting shortstop. Whitney held the position until he left the team in 1954 to coach high school basketball at Clarksville, Tenn.

"I had great times with the Monarchs," Whitney said after Banks' death in January. "Playing baseball helped me settle down and become a good coach. In baseball, you get a lot of streaks. You can win nine straight games or you can lose nine straight."

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/05/10/6220362/former-alcorn-basketball-coach.html#storylink=cpy

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