Newberry Names Dave Davis As Head Men’s Basketball Coach

NEWBERRY, S.C. - Newberry College athletics director Brad Edwards introduced Dave Davis as the College's 24th men's basketball coach in a press conference on campus Monday. Davis had previously served as head men's basketball coach at Pfeiffer University for the past 14 seasons.

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 have averaged over 20 wins per season and rank in the top 5 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.

"When I talked to other athletic directors in the region, they said that if we could get Dave Davis at Newberry, it would be a coup," Edwards said. "His energy is off the charts, he has a ton of fire and he is going to be a great Newberry guy."

"It is absolutely an honor and a privelege to be your basketball coach at Newberry College," Davis said at his introductory press conference. "I'm very excited and honored that Brad Edwards would trust me in this position. I am really looking forward to getting started. There are a lot of unanswered questions and we will be meeting with the team over the next two days to get those things figured out."

Davis' 2009-10 Pfeiffer team finished as the highest scoring team in Division II at 103.1 points per game and was ranked third nationally in three-pointers per game (10.6) and steals per game (11.2), while ranking fifth in the country in three-point field goal percentage (42.3%).

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.

All told, Davis has a record of 343-200 (.632) in 19 years as a collegiate head coach.

Davis earned his bachelor's degree from Warren Wilson in 1983, and a master's degree from Gardner-Webb in 1993. As a player for the Owls, he was a 4-year starter and was on two Conference Championship teams. He is Warren Wilson's all-time assist leader.

Davis has an impressive list of former assistant coaches including seven Division I coaches, headlined by Purdue head coach Matt Painter, Charlotte associate head coach Rob Moxley, Charlotte assistant coach Rob Perron and Boston Celtics assistant coach Michael Longabardi.