April 9, 1997
GREENVILLE - Furman University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. John Block announced today that Larry Davis has been named the school's new head basketball coach.
Davis, who becomes the school's 15th head basketball coach, succeeds Joe Cantafio, who resigned at the end of the recently completed basketball season following three years at the school.
"I'm tremendously excited to be at Furman University and in Greenville," said Davis on Wednesday morning. "It's one of the proudest days of my life besides the birth of my two children and marrying my wife. I think it's a tremendous opportunity, and I hope I can help Furman restore a lot of its rich basketball tradition. We want to be a part of the community and do things for the community, but we also hope it will support us.
"I'm also excited about the fact that I'll be coaching at one of the premier academic institutions in the United States, and I hope we can elevate our basketball program to the same level of our school's academics," Davis added.
"Larry Davis is a very hard worker who knows the game, and he is an outstanding recruiter who will not accept anything less than an all-out effort," said Dr. John Block on Wednesday. "He has been part of very successful programs at Wake Forest and Minnesota, among others. His Wake Forest experience in particular prepares him to lead a competitive NCAA Division I program in the setting of a selective liberal arts college. All of us at Furman welcome the timely and exciting arrival of our new coach and look forward to a long and productive relationship."
Davis comes to Furman following three seasons as an assistant coach under Clem Haskins at the University of Minnesota, where the Gophers went 69-29 and made two trips to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament, and one appearance in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). This past year, Minnesota won the Big Ten Conference championship with a 16-2 record and posted a school best 31-4 overall mark en route to an appearance in the NCAA Final Four.
During his tenure at Minnesota, Davis played a key role in the recruitment of several outstanding players, including 1996 Associated Press All-American and Big Ten Player-of-the-Year Bobby Jackson, former Arkansas Gatorade Player-of-the-Year Quincy Lewis, and former Kentucky Mr. Basketball Charles Thomas. Davis also assisted the Gophers in the recruitment of Indiana Player-of-the-Year Courtney James, thereby helping Minnesota garner the eighth-best recruiting class in the country for the 1995-96 year, according to recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.
Prior to his stint at Minnesota, Davis served in assistant coaching capacities at Ball State University (1993-94), Wake Forest University (1989-93), and the University of Delaware (1985-89).
In his only season at Ball State, Davis helped the Cardinals to a 16-12 record. While at Wake Forest, he played a key role in the revitalization of the Demon Deacon program under head coach Dave Odom, assisting in the Deacons' rise from last in the Atlantic Coast Conference to a then-school record three straight NCAA Tournament berths, including a 21-9 record and appearance in the "Sweet 16" in 1993. And, at Delaware, Davis helped the Blue Hens to a then-school record 19 wins in 1988.
A native of Mount Sterling, Ky., Davis attended Wapahani High School in Selma, Ind., and was named Wapahani's outstanding athlete in 1974 following a stellar basketball and baseball career. He went on to attend Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., where he starred in soccer and track before graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in education in 1978. The next year he enrolled in graduate school at East Tennessee State University and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant - a position he held for three seasons prior to receiving his master's degree in physical education in 1982.
Davis assumed his first head coaching position at Cloverport High School in Cloverport, Ky., in 1982. A year later he moved on to prep basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., where in two seasons he compiled an outstanding 51-9 record while developing the talents of a dozen future NCAA Division I players. His 1985 squad, which ranked fifth nationally, included Parade All-Americans Rod Strickland (DePaul) and Michael Jones (Auburn).
Davis, 40, and his wife Treva have a daughter, Morgan, 11, and a son, Jordan, 6.