Newberry College Athletics

Dave Davis completed his ninth season as head men's basketball coach at Newberry College and 29th season as a collegiate head coach in 2018-19 and has accumulated 486 wins in his storied career. 


Each of Davis' first four senior classes filled with players he recruited at Newberry their careers as the all-time winningest class at Newberry since joining the NCAA. Five of the top six win totals in Newberry NCAA men's basketball have come with Davis at the helm.


Davis' 2014-15 team finished in a tie for second in the league standings, matching the program record for best finish in the NCAA era. His players have accounted for 17 total All-South Atlantic Conference selections. He has mentored three SAC Freshmen of the Year, four SAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year for Men's Basketball (all in the last five years), and an Academic All-American.


Newberry had a streak of seven consecutive winning seasons from 2011-12 until 2017-18; it had been 31 years since the Newberry program had back-to-back winning records. The Wolves have led the SAC in scoring in seven of nine years since Davis arrived. Newberry has ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring each year Davis has been the coach and has also been in the top 5 nationally in steals, forced turnovers, and 3-point scoring on a regular basis. The Wolves have finished in the top half of the league, each of Davis' first eight years.


Davis had previously served as head men's basketball coach at Pfeiffer University before joining Newberry. In his 14 seasons at Pfeiffer, Davis accumulated a record of 284-124 (.696) including 21 championships, NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2000 and 2004, and an NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 2004. Davis' Pfeiffer teams averaged over 20 wins per season and rank in the top five in wins since 1990 in all of NCAA Division II basketball. Davis was named the CVAC Coach of the Year in 1998, 1999, and 2004. He was also named the NCAA East Regional Coach of the Year in 2004.


Davis' 2009-10 Pfeiffer team finished as the highest scoring team in Division II at 103.1 points per game and his teams led the country, Division I and II in scoring five times. They scored 66 second half points vs. North Carolina in the Dean Dome, the most points scored against the Tar Heels in one half in the history of their program. The Falcons scored 50 vs Duke in the second half, 56 vs Purdue in the first half and scored an amazing 146 points in a conference game vs Barton in 2010. 


Prior to being named head coach at Pfeiffer, Davis was the head coach at Barton College where the team of his own recruits won a record 25 games. He received his first head coaching position at his alma mater, Warren Wilson College, where he led the Owls to their highest win total in 15 years.


Over Davis' career he has coached 19 All-Americans and has had 64 former players sign professional contracts, including Danny Huffor, Dondray Walker, Aegir Steinarsson, Tony Davis and Mitch Riggs from Newberry.


Davis earned his bachelor's degree from Warren Wilson in 1983, a master's degree from Gardner-Webb in 1993, and educational specialist degree from Liberty University in 2009. As a player for the Owls, he was a 4-year starter and was on two Conference Championship and National Tournament teams. He is Warren Wilson's all-time assist leader and was inducted into the inaugural Hall of Fame class in 2014.


Davis has an impressive list of former assistant coaches and players who have excelled at the college and professional levels, headlined by Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane, Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Michael Longabardi Connecticut Associate Head Coach Raphael Chellious, North Carolina State Assistant Rob Moxley as well as five Division I head coaches, 16 Division I assistant coaches, nine Division II head coaches, five Junior college head coaches, two college Athletic Directors and five professional General Managers, coaches or scouts.

DAVIS YEAR-BY-YEAR

^ - NCAA Tournament Appearance
! - CVAC Regular Season Champions
# - CVAC Coach of the Year