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Men's Basketball

Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis vs. Fayetteville State
Coach Kermit Davis vs Western Michigan_Nov. 10, 2018
Coach Kermit Davis vs. San Diego
Coach Kermit Davis vs. FGCU-Dec. 29, 2018
Kermit Davis Ole Miss Men's Basketball vs Missouri in Oxford, MS on Feb. 16, 2019. Photo by Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics Instagram and Twitter: @OleMissPix Buy Photos at RebelWallArt.com
Coach Kermit Davis vs. FGCU-Dec. 29, 2018
Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis vs. Norfolk State
Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis vs. Fayetteville State
Kermit Davis
Kermit Davis
  • Title:
    Head Coach
  • Year at Ole Miss:
    Fifth
  • Email:
    khhobson@olemiss.edu
  • Phone:
    662-915-7534
  • Alma Mater:
    Mississippi State (1982)
Kermit Davis spent five seasons at the helm of Ole Miss Basketball. A nine-time conference coach of the year, Davis left the Rebels 29th among active Division I head coaches with 477 career wins over 25 seasons, including stints at Middle Tennessee, Idaho and Texas A&M. In 28 seasons as a college basketball head coach, he amassed 543 wins.
 
Davis coached four all-conference players during his four seasons in Oxford, including a trio of First Team All-SEC guards. Devontae Shuler was the latest Rebel to finish his collegiate career with First Team All-SEC honors along with winning the C Spire Howell Trophy as the best men’s basketball player in the state of Mississippi. Prior to Shuler, Breein Tyree earned first team accolades in back-to-back seasons (2018-19, 2019-20). Tyree’s game blossomed in Davis’ system, ranking in the conference’s top three in scoring as a junior (third-17.9 ppg) and as a senior (second-19.7 ppg). Current Sacramento King Terence Davis also found success under his new head coach as a senior (2018-19) before becoming the first Rebel in more than a decade to play in the NBA. 
 
Davis took Ole Miss to new heights in recruiting, signing the No. 12 class in the nation for the 2022-23 season (per ESPN), as well as the two highest ranked recruits in program history at the time. Matthew Murrell broke the record first as part of the 2020 class before 2021 Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year Daeshun Ruffin became Ole Miss’ top rated recruit. Ruffin also became the first McDonald’s All-American to sign with the Rebels out of high school. Both cracked the top-40 nationally when they signed to continue their careers at Ole Miss.
 
Murrell and Ruffin had breakout seasons in 2021-22 under Davis, a year in which the Rebels notched two more AP Top-25 victories -- their fifth within a calendar year. Ole Miss tied a program record with its fourth-straight top-25 win after the Rebels took down No. 18 Memphis, 67-63, in front of a sellout crowd at SJB Pavilion on Dec. 4. That streak dated back to the previous season after the Rebels took down No. 10 Tennessee (52-50), No. 10 Missouri (80-59) and No. 24 Missouri (60-53) in the February of 2021. Ole Miss added a fifth AP Top-25 win in the span of a calendar year after a thrilling 76-72 victory at No. 25 LSU on Feb. 1, 2022, the first Rebel win in Baton Rouge since March 9, 2013.

After being the last team from a Power 5 conference to start the 2020-21 season due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program, Davis’ Rebels made a late season run that nearly resulted in an NCAA Tournament berth. Boasting the SEC’s best scoring defense, allowing only 65.4 ppg, the Rebels won 10 of their final 13 games. Two of those victories were over top-10 teams. Ole Miss finished the season 3-0 against top-25 opponents, one of only four teams to go undefeated versus ranked teams during the 2020-21 campaign. Just missing out on March Madness, the Rebels received a No. 1 seed in the NIT to make their second postseason. While Shuler led the way as a First Team All-SEC guard, graduate transfer Romello White made an impact in his only season by setting the school record for field goal percentage in a single season (64.9 percent).
 
During his second season, Davis earned his 500th career win as a head coach. With defense a common emphasis to his teams, Ole Miss finished the 2020 season ranked 15th nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.2). The 2019-20 campaign was highlighted by a comeback victory over Penn State in the NIT Tip-Off, in which the Rebels trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half, and a 25-point victory over rival Mississippi State. The win over the Bulldogs was Ole Miss’ fifth-largest margin of victory in the SEC’s most-played rivalry. 
 
After leading Middle Tennessee to conference championships and NCAA Tournament runs, the Leakesville, Mississippi, native returned to his home state as the 22nd permanent head coach of the Ole Miss basketball program, as announced on March 15, 2018.
 
Davis wasted no time making an impact in Oxford. With the Rebels coming off a last-place finish in 2017-18, the media picked Ole Miss to land at the bottom of the SEC standings again in 2018-19. However, Davis led one of the biggest turnaround seasons in the nation. Behind the play of All-SEC guards Tyree (first team) and Terence Davis (second team), the Rebels posted a 20-13 record to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. With a return to March Madness for the sixth time in his career, Davis joined a list of 63 coaches in college basketball history to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Ole Miss won 13 of its first 15 games to begin the Davis era, which included victories against top-15 teams Auburn and Mississippi State to vault the Rebels into the national rankings for the first time in six years. Davis became the first Ole Miss head coach to win his first three SEC games. The Rebels ended the conference slate with a 10-8 mark, good enough for a tie for sixth in the standings. Davis was named SEC Coach of the Year by his peers and the Associated Press, earning conference coach of the year accolades for the ninth time in his career. He became the sixth Ole Miss coach to earn SEC Coach of the Year honors, while joining Andy Kennedy as the only Rebel coaches to collect the award in their first year in Oxford.  
 
Davis brought an excited brand of basketball to The Pavilion, as Ole Miss led the SEC in increased attendance for conference games (23.75 percent). The Rebels sold out five home games in his first year, exceeding the four sellouts combined over the first two and a half seasons in The Pavilion.

Prior to returning to his home state, Davis guided Middle Tennessee to league titles in six of his last nine years in Murfreesboro, between Conference USA and the Sun Belt. Middle Tennessee was one of five programs he led to conference championships.
 
Under Davis’ watch, Middle Tennessee made the 2013, 2016 and 2017 NCAA tournaments and defeated No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 5 seed Minnesota in back-to-back seasons.
 
With a 25-8 record in 2018, Middle Tennessee reached the 24-win mark for the sixth time in seven seasons, which in turn led to six postseason appearances during that period. The Blue Raiders won consecutive Conference USA regular season titles in Davis’ final two years, posting a 33-3 mark in C-USA play.
 
Davis’ Blue Raiders posted a 31-5 record in 2017, including a 17-1 mark in Conference USA play, setting a school record for overall victories and a C-USA record for league wins. Middle Tennessee swept the conference regular season and tourney titles on its way to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth that saw them topple No. 5 seed Minnesota, 81-72, in Milwaukee.
 
The Blue Raiders finished the 2016 season with a 25-10 mark and won their first Conference USA Tournament title just three years into their tenure. In the Big Dance, Davis led the Raiders to St. Louis as a No. 15 seed against Tom Izzo’s No. 2 seed and second-ranked Michigan State Spartans, directing one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history as the Blue Raiders captured a 90-81 win to move into the second round.
 
Middle Tennessee was a giant killer under Davis, posting a 12-11 record against seven different Power 5 teams from 2012 through 2018. Over the final three seasons, the Blue Raiders boasted a 7-1 record against the SEC and Big Ten, including the two NCAA Tournament wins.
 
Defense has long been a staple for Davis’ squads, as the Blue Raiders ranked top two in C-USA in scoring defense in each of his final four seasons. That style of play correlated to tremendous success on the road, including a 23-3 record away from home over his last two campaigns.
 
With Davis’ emphasis on academics, Middle Tennessee was one of only six teams in 2017 and one of only seven in 2016 with a 100 percent graduation rate and also win an NCAA Tournament game that season – joining Kansas, Villanova, Duke, Notre Dame and Butler in both seasons as well as Iowa in 2016. Davis graduated 52 consecutive MT student-athletes that exhausted their eligibility.
 
Davis excelled in ramping up fan support during his tenure as well, frequently surpassing season attendance marks while averaging a home crowd of nearly 7,000 in his final season. A Murphy Center attendance record of 11,807 was set for Western Kentucky in 2004, while 11,802 fans were on hand for the Tennessee game in 2009.
 
Davis coached 25 all-conference players and five players of the year at Middle Tennessee and signed five top-25 recruiting classes, including the No. 11 class in 2004. He left Murfreesboro as the all-time winningest coach for both the school and the Sun Belt Conference.
 
Before arriving at Middle Tennessee in 2002, Davis spent five seasons as the associate head coach at LSU under John Brady. With Davis assembling multiple top-five recruiting classes, the Tigers captured the SEC title in 2000 and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 13 years.
 
In two tours of duty as Idaho head coach in 1997 and from 1989-90, Davis compiled a 63-29 record, the best three-year total in the program’s history, and earned NCAA Tournament berths in 1989 and 1990.
 
Davis took the helm at Idaho before the 1989 season after two years as an assistant coach under Tim Floyd, and at the time, was the youngest Division I head coach in the nation at age 28. It was not the first time Davis had been the country’s youngest head coach. When he was hired as the head coach at Southwest Mississippi Community College in 1984, he became the youngest junior college coach in the nation at age 24. His youth served him well at Southwest Mississippi, as he put together a 39-20 record in two seasons. His 1986 squad won 22 games, posting the school’s first 20-win season in 17 years.

After spending two seasons as the head coach at Idaho, Davis went on to become the head coach at Texas A&M for the 1991 campaign. From Texas A&M, Davis moved on to serve as associate head coach at Chipola Junior College for two seasons before ascending to the top spot for the 1994 campaign. During his season as the team’s head coach, Chipola finished the season ranked No. 4 in the national polls and posted a 27-5 record, giving the team the second-most wins in school history.

From Chipola, Davis moved on to serve as associate head coach at Utah State from 1995-96. With the Aggies, Davis coached under Larry Eustachy, and the pair combined to win the Big West championship in 1995.
 
The son of former Mississippi State head coach Kermit Davis Sr., the younger Davis played for the Bulldogs and graduated from MSU in 1982, before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant.
 
He and his wife, Betty, have two daughters, Ally and Claire.

EDUCATION
Bachelor’s in Business Administration (1982) - Mississippi State
Master of Arts in Teaching (1984) - Mississippi State

HONORS
2019 SEC Coach of the Year (league, AP)
2019 Jim Phelan Award finalist (CollegeInsider.com)
2017 TSWA Coach of the Year
2017 NABC District 11 Coach of the Year
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year (league)
2016 Daily News Journal Sportsperson of the Year
2013 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (league, CollegeInsider.com)
2012 NABC District 24 Coach of the Year
2012 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (league, CollegeInsider.com)
2010 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (CollegeInsider.com)
2008 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (CollegeInsider.com)
2003 Sun Belt Coach of the Year (league)
1990 Big Sky Coach of the Year (league)
1989 Big Sky Coach of the Year (league)
 
NOTEWORTHY
- Nine seasons of 24 or more wins as a head coach
- Nine-time conference coach of the year
- Winningest head coach in Middle Tennessee history
- Winningest head coach in Sun Belt conference history
- Youngest Division I head coach in the nation at Idaho at age 28
- Youngest junior college coach in the nation at Southwest Mississippi at age 24
 
COACHING CAREER
Year(s) School Position
2019-2023 Ole Miss Head Coach
2003-18 Middle Tennessee Head Coach
1998-2002 LSU Associate Head Coach
1997 Idaho Head Coach
1995-96 Utah State Associate Head Coach
1994 Chipola JC Head Coach
1992-93 Chipola JC Associate Head Coach
1991 Texas A&M Head Coach
1989-90 Idaho Head Coach
1987-88 Idaho Assistant Coach
1985-86 Southwest Mississippi CC Head Coach
1983-84 Mississippi State Graduate Assistant
 
HEAD COACHING RECORD
Year(s) School Record (Postseason)
2022-23 Ole Miss 10-18
2021-22 Ole Miss 13-19
2020-21 Ole Miss 16-12 (NIT First Round)
2019-20 Ole Miss 15-17
2018-19 Ole Miss 20-13 (NCAA First Round)
2017-18 Middle Tennessee 25-8 (NIT Second Round)
2016-17 Middle Tennessee 31-5 (NCAA Second Round)
2015-16 Middle Tennessee 25-10 (NCAA Second Round)
2014-15 Middle Tennessee 19-17 (CIT First Round)
2013-14 Middle Tennessee 24-9
2012-13 Middle Tennessee 28-6 (NCAA First Four)
2011-12 Middle Tennessee 27-7 (NIT Quarterfinals)
2010-11 Middle Tennessee 16-16
2009-10 Middle Tennessee 19-14 (CIT First Round)
2008-09 Middle Tennessee 18-14
2007-08 Middle Tennessee 17-15
2006-07 Middle Tennessee 15-17
2005-06 Middle Tennessee 16-12
2004-05 Middle Tennessee 19-12
2003-04 Middle Tennessee 17-12
2002-03 Middle Tennessee 16-14
1996-97 Idaho 13-17
1993-94 Chipola JC 27-5 (State Semifinals)
1990-91 Texas A&M 8-21
1989-90 Idaho 25-6 (NCAA First Round)
1988-89 Idaho 25-6 (NCAA First Round)
1985-86 Southwest Mississippi CC 22-11
1984-85 Southwest Mississippi CC 17-9
Totals 27 seasons 543-342 (.614)
Division I 25 seasons 477-317 (.601)
at Ole Miss 5 seasons 74-79
at Middle Tennessee 16 seasons 332-188 (winningest coach in program history)
at Texas A&M 1 season 8-21
at Idaho 3 seasons 63-29