Former IU head coach Mike Davis draws up Detroit dream for star son
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Every dad in America is jealous of former IU head coach Mike Davis, now at Detroit Mercy.
Bonus time with your grown children is a tough currency to come by. The Davis trio — Mike, Mike Jr. and freshman Antoine — are riding together on college basketball’s biggest rebuilding project this season.
Antoine is on fire. He can thank dad for doing the dirty work.
“Well, we walked into three scholarship players and had 10 scholarships available,” Davis Sr. said. “We had three weeks in August, because school started on Aug. 27, to not only get their official visits but get their transcripts and everything.”
“I never saw them play. I wouldn’t have known them if they walked in the room,” said Davis Sr.
Coming off back-to-back 8-win seasons, the Detroit Mercy job was closer to the moon than what Davis knew in Bloomington.
His rocket ship in year one: his son.
Born blocks from Assembly Hall, Antoine Davis is the second-leading scorer in the country. He’s efficient, and more importanly, a freshman.
“My dream was for Antoine to play at Indiana,” Davis Sr. said. “That was my dream. But he was a little behind. He is smaller, not a physical guy … but what a story it would have been.”
“This state love shooters, and he and I had talked about it. But, fortunately, I have him playing for me,” Davis Sr. said.
Antoine decommited from former embattled IU head coach Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars to follow his dad to Detroit, all after being homeschooled in Houston.
Is Antoine the best shooter Davis Sr. has coached?
“You know I’ve coached some good shooters,” Davis Sr. said. “(Tom) Coverdale and (Kyle) Horsnby, (Dane) Fife. So many guys, Robert Vaden, I don’t want those guys to get upset with me.”
“But, if he isn’t the best shooter I’ve coached, he (Antoine) has worked harder than anyone I’ve ever been around,” Davis Sr. said.
But the man Davis Sr. was around those years at IU still isn’t. The phone line remains quiet between Davis and Bob Knight.
“It is not anything I sit around and feel bad about or sad about,” Davis Sr. said. “I just remember the opportunity he gave me. Because, what he did for me was, he put me in basketball mecca. He put me at one of the greatest programs in the history of college basketball. I was sitting on that bench.”
“Coach Knight will go down as one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball and I got to work for him,” said Davis Sr.
Sometimes the dream job evolves over time.
This family is a testament to the good on both spectrums of college basketball.
“Being back (in Indiana) brought back so many memories for me because who would have thought that little boy (Antoine) would have been playing for me,” Davis Sr. said.