Mike Davis was once the successor to one of college basketball’s most legendary coaches. Now, he is being tasked with leading a Mississippi Valley State men’s program that has enjoyed little success in recent years.
Davis, a four-time conference coach of the year — three times in the SWAC and once in the CUSA — comes to Itta Bena with decades of head coaching experience, first reported by the Memphis Commercial Appeal. He has led teams to the NCAA Tournament on nine occasions and even found himself coaching an Indiana group in the national championship game as Bob Knight’s successor.
The new Delta Devils head coach takes over for George Ivory, who was fired after going 3-30 this past season, with the team’s lone wins being against the Mississippi University for Women, Texas Southern, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Ivory tallied a 14-141 overall record and finished dead-last in the SWAC each of his four seasons at the helm.
“MVSU Athletics would like to thank Coach Ivory for his unwavering contributions to Mississippi Valley State University as both a student-athlete and head coach,” Athletics Director Dr. Alecia Shields-Gadson said. “His impact on the institution spans decades and reflects a lasting commitment to the Delta Devils men’s basketball program.”
Davis, an Alabama native, most recently served as Detroit Mercy’s frontman from 2018-24, before assisting Penny Hardaway at Memphis during the 2024-25 campaign. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Miles College, a Division II school in Alabama, where he spent one season before relocating to Venezuela to coach both professional teams and the country’s national team.
He returned to the U.S. to help coach the Continental Basketball Association’s Wichita Falls Texans, where he also logged minutes as a player from 1990-94. He played a similar role for the association’s Chicago Rockers during the 1994-95 campaign.
Davis returned to his home state in 1995 to serve as an assistant for his alma mater, the University of Alabama. He held that role until 1997, when Knight hired him to join his staff at Indiana. After the Hoosiers administration dismissed Knight for actions deemed detrimental to the university’s image, Davis was promoted from within to fill very large shoes.
He led Indiana from 2000-06, which included the national title runner-up finish in 2002, then accepted a head coaching gig at UAB in 2006 and led the Blazers until 2012. From 2012-18, he was Texas Southern’s frontman, winning four SWAC titles with the Tigers.
Mississippi Valley State will begin the 2026-27 season in November, with Davis leading the charge.