The University of Mississippi Athletics

Kermit Davis Poised to Lead Ole Miss Hoops

3/15/2018 | Men's Basketball, Blog

Ole Miss officially announced the hiring of Kermit Davis to be the school's next head men's basketball coach. Davis arrives in Oxford after serving as the head coach of Middle Tennessee State for the last 16 seasons. "I'm incredibly honored and excited to be the basketball coach at the University of Mississippi," said Davis. "We are extremely grateful to Chancellor Vitter and Ross for giving me the opportunity to lead such a prestigious program in the best basketball league in America. Coming back to my home state of Mississippi to build a national brand is absolutely a dream come true for us. I am Mississippi Made and cannot wait to join the rest of the Ole Miss family."Davis is an eight-time coach of the year in three different conferences and guided the Blue Raiders to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, 2016 and 2017 with wins over two-seed Michigan State and five seed Minnesota in back-to-back seasons. Middle Tennessee won its conference seven of the last nine seasons with Davis at the helm.Davis has helped a total of five programs win conference championships in his 34-year coaching career that has included stops at Idaho and Texas A&M. Davis currently has 403 career wins which ranks 34th among active head coaches."After assessing the entire landscape of college basketball and speaking to basketball experts across the country to determine the greatest fit for Ole Miss Basketball, the answer was clear - Kermit Davis is the best coach and best leader to take our program to the next level in the SEC and NCAA," Vice Chancellor for Collegiate Athletics Ross Bjork said in a statement. "Combining his brand of play and his proven ability to build a model basketball program, Coach Davis has established himself as a leader and winner in college basketball. Over the last several weeks, we consistently heard that other coaches `never want to play his team,' and his record confirms that. Coach Davis also possesses a great sense of purpose for his program and does it the right way off the court. During the process, Coach Davis' energy, drive, and vision for our program was unmatched, and we can't wait to welcome him and his family back to the great state of Mississippi and into the Ole Miss family."Here is some reaction to Ole Miss' hiring of Davis, a Mississippi native returning to his home state.
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