Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Men's Basketball
Davis, Kermit
Kermit Davis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- kermit.davis@mtsu.edu
- Phone:
- 898-2916
Click here for career highlights
Kermit Davis enters his 16th season at the helm of the Middle Tennessee program in 2017-18 after back-to-back seasons of unprecedented success in which the Blue Raiders won a pair of Conference USA Championships and NCAA Tournament First Round games.
The Blue Raiders notched an astonishing 31-5 record in 2016-17, including a 17-1 mark in Conference USA play, setting a new school record for overall wins and a C-USA record for league wins.
Middle Tennessee swept the regular season and conference titles in 2016-17 on their way to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth that saw them topple No. 5 seed Minnesota, 81-72, in Milwaukee.
Davis notched another career milestone late in the season when a 97-86 win at Marshall pushed the long-time Blue Raider coach over the 300-win mark as MT’s head man. He was awarded Conference USA, NABC District 11 and TSWA Coach of the Year honors following the historic campaign.
Middle Tennessee finished the 2015-16 season with a stellar 25-10 mark to notch its fourth campaign of 24 or more wins in the last five seasons, which in turn led to a fifth postseason appearance in the last seven years.
The Blue Raiders won their first Conference USA Tournament title just three years into their tenure as a member of the conference when they knocked off Old Dominion, 55-53, in a defensive struggle, earning their second NCAA berth in four seasons.
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.
Earlier in the 2015-16 campaign, Davis notched another milestone win as he collected his 400th career victory in Norfolk, Va., defeating ODU, 64-61.
In 2014-15, Davis led MTSU to another winning season that included a stellar 12-4 record at home. The Blue Raiders won four straight games in early March to reach the C-USA Championship Game and earn an invite into the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
In the Raiders’ inaugural year in C-USA, MT shared the regular season title by garnering a 13-3 record in conference play and finishing the 2013-14 season with a 24-9 overall record, marking the third straight regular season conference title.
MT claimed its second straight Sun Belt Conference regular season crown after posting a program-best record of 28-6 and a 19-1 mark in conference play during the 2012-13 campaign. Davis picked up back-to-back Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, marking the third time he received the award (2003, 2012 and 2013).
Under the Leakesville, Miss., native’s leadership, MT reached the NCAA Tournament in 2013 for the first time since 1989 and seventh time in program history when the team took on Saint Mary’s in a First Four matchup.
After a successful 2012-13 season, the Raiders’ last in the Sun Belt, Davis was listed as one of the finalists for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach.
The 2011-12 season proved to be a historic one for Davis and the Blue Raiders. On Dec. 29, 2011, Davis became the program’s all-time winningest coach, surpassing Jimmy Earle’s mark of 164, as he earned his 165th victory at the helm of the Blue Raiders with a 71-66 triumph over FIU. MT went on to set school records for wins (27), conference wins (14) and road wins (11) that season.
The Blue Raiders made their first appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) since 1988 and advanced to the quarterfinals, beating in-state foe Tennessee for the first time since 1988. MT finished the season as the fourth-best shooting team in the country at 49.5 percent with the top performance coming at UCLA, when the Blue Raiders hit a school-record 71.4 percent of their shots, including a 10-for-11 performance from beyond the arc en route to the 86-66 win.
The Blue Raiders raked in accolades following the 27-7 season, as Davis was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year for the second time in his tenure. Senior LaRon Dendy claimed the league’s Player of the Year award and earned First Team honors, while juniors Marcos Knight and JT Sulton were also named to All-Conference teams. The trio of selections marked the most since MT joined the Sun Belt in the 2000-01 season.
During the 2010-11 campaign, Davis earned his 150th win as the head coach of Middle Tennessee, defeating rival WKU on Feb. 10. He became just the second coach in program history to reach the milestone, joining Earle. He also surpassed the 250 career victory mark, reaching that milestone on Jan. 29, 2009 with a win over Louisiana.
The veteran coach was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2003, as voted on by league coaches. He was named the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year by College Insiders in 2008 after leading the Blue Raiders into the Sun Belt Championship game and again in 2010 after winning the Sun Belt East Division title.
In addition to creating a winning environment at Middle Tennessee, Davis’ leadership has translated to success in the classroom as well. Desmond “Boogie” Yates became the school’s all-time scoring leader during the 2009-10 season, while Kevin Kanaskie took the assist leader title in 2008-09. Off the court, the Blue Raiders enjoyed a 2.92 team GPA during the spring semester of 2010 - the highest for a Middle Tennessee men’s basketball team in 20 years.
Before leaving the Sun Belt Conference, Davis became the league’s all-time winningest coach with MT’s 66-61 victory at UALR on Feb. 16, 2013 marking his 113th league win. Davis surpassed South Alabama’s Ronnie Arrow, who had 112 conference wins. Davis left the Sun Belt with 117 wins in league play.
Davis has excelled in ramping up basketball attendance during his tenure as well, frequently surpassing season attendance marks while notching an average home crowd of nearly 6,000 fans in his most recent season.
A Murphy Center attendance record of 11,807 was set on February 26, 2004 when fans flocked to the “Glass House” to cheer Middle Tennessee to a 73-59 win against three-time defending Sun Belt champion Western Kentucky. When 18,071 attended the Blue Raiders’ game against Memphis at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., it marked the largest crowd ever for a regular-season men’s basketball game at that venue. Middle Tennessee also drew 11,802 for its home game against Tennessee in November 2009.
In his first season as the Blue Raiders’ head coach, Davis inherited a group of players who had never enjoyed success as members of the Sun Belt. The 2002-03 Blue Raiders were picked fourth (of five) teams in the Sun Belt’s East Division, and eighth of 11 teams overall, but heading into the final week of the regular season Middle Tennessee remained in the championship hunt.
For his efforts, Davis was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, marking the third time in five years as a Division I head coach he had been so honored.
While Davis’ first team surprised many by reaching the finals of the Sun Belt tournament and putting together the most wins for a Blue Raider squad (16) since the 1997-98 campaign, his second Blue Raider team had to be even more surprising.
Middle Tennessee entered the 2003-04 season with only one returning starter and four letter winners from Davis’ initial Blue Raider team, but the proven winner molded his squad into a championship contender by mid-season. The Blue Raiders increased their number of wins and had fans coming through the turnstiles in record numbers with an exciting style of play.
Middle Tennessee went a step beyond in 2004-05 when the Blue Raiders posted a 19-win season in Davis’ third year, marking the first time since 1997-98 that the team had won as many games.
Like all successful coaches, Davis has been victorious by recruiting players who fit the personality of the team and take ownership of their squad. The 2004 squad was as high as the No. 11 signing class and the 2011-12 class ranked as high as No. 19 by Hoop Scoop.
Prior to being named the head coach at Middle Tennessee, Davis spent five seasons as the associate head coach at LSU under former head coach John Brady. Before he joined Brady at LSU, the Tigers had been languishing near the bottom of the SEC.
It didn’t take long for the team’s fortunes to change. After two seasons of putting the pieces together, the Tigers captured the SEC title in 2000 and went on to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. The Tigers returned to the postseason in 2002 with a trip to the National Invitational Tournament. In the three years immediately preceding Davis’ arrival in Murfreesboro, LSU averaged 20-plus wins per season.
Before LSU, Davis spent one season as the head coach at the University of Idaho; however, his stint with the Vandals was his second tour of duty in Moscow. He also served as the school’s head coach from 1988-90. During his three years as the head coach at Idaho, Davis compiled a 63-29 record, the best three-year total in the program’s history. Davis posted two of the best single-season tallies in school history during his first two seasons at Idaho as well, turning in 25-6 marks in both of those seasons (1988-89, 1989-90).
His Idaho squad won the Big Sky championship in 1989 and went on to capture the league’s tournament crown and a berth into the NCAA Tournament, as well. For his efforts, Davis was named Big Sky Coach of the Year. History repeated itself in 1990 when Davis once again led the Vandals to the Big Sky title in both the regular season and tournament, garnering yet another NCAA Tournament berth.
In fact, Davis himself made history when he became the Vandals’ head coach in 1988. Upon his hiring, Davis was the youngest Division I head coach in the nation at age 28. It was not the first time Davis had been the youngest head coach in the country. When he was hired as the head coach at Southwest Mississippi Junior 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 1990-91 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 1993-94 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. At Utah State, Davis coached under former Southern Mississippi coach Larry Eustachy, and the pair combined to win the Big West championship in 1995. His Utah State tenure ended with his return to Idaho as the Vandals’ head coach, and the rest is history.
Davis’ rapid ascent up the coaching ladder is no coincidence since he grew up watching how one of the preeminent coaches in the country operated on a daily basis. Kermit Davis Sr. was one of the most respected college coaches in the nation, and the younger Davis spent many hours around his dad in the gym and even on the bench during games.
After completing his playing career at Mississippi State, Davis began his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant on Bob Boyd’s staff from 1983-84. Davis earned his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State in 1982 and then obtained his master’s degree there in 1984. He and his wife, Betty, have two daughters, Ally and Claire.
-THE DAVIS FILE-
Middle Tennessee Record: 307-180 (15 seasons)
Division I Record: 378-230 (19 seasons)
Career Record: 444-255 (22 seasons)
Kermit Davis enters his 16th season at the helm of the Middle Tennessee program in 2017-18 after back-to-back seasons of unprecedented success in which the Blue Raiders won a pair of Conference USA Championships and NCAA Tournament First Round games.
The Blue Raiders notched an astonishing 31-5 record in 2016-17, including a 17-1 mark in Conference USA play, setting a new school record for overall wins and a C-USA record for league wins.
Middle Tennessee swept the regular season and conference titles in 2016-17 on their way to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth that saw them topple No. 5 seed Minnesota, 81-72, in Milwaukee.
Davis notched another career milestone late in the season when a 97-86 win at Marshall pushed the long-time Blue Raider coach over the 300-win mark as MT’s head man. He was awarded Conference USA, NABC District 11 and TSWA Coach of the Year honors following the historic campaign.
Middle Tennessee finished the 2015-16 season with a stellar 25-10 mark to notch its fourth campaign of 24 or more wins in the last five seasons, which in turn led to a fifth postseason appearance in the last seven years.
The Blue Raiders won their first Conference USA Tournament title just three years into their tenure as a member of the conference when they knocked off Old Dominion, 55-53, in a defensive struggle, earning their second NCAA berth in four seasons.
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.
Earlier in the 2015-16 campaign, Davis notched another milestone win as he collected his 400th career victory in Norfolk, Va., defeating ODU, 64-61.
In 2014-15, Davis led MTSU to another winning season that included a stellar 12-4 record at home. The Blue Raiders won four straight games in early March to reach the C-USA Championship Game and earn an invite into the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
In the Raiders’ inaugural year in C-USA, MT shared the regular season title by garnering a 13-3 record in conference play and finishing the 2013-14 season with a 24-9 overall record, marking the third straight regular season conference title.
MT claimed its second straight Sun Belt Conference regular season crown after posting a program-best record of 28-6 and a 19-1 mark in conference play during the 2012-13 campaign. Davis picked up back-to-back Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, marking the third time he received the award (2003, 2012 and 2013).
Under the Leakesville, Miss., native’s leadership, MT reached the NCAA Tournament in 2013 for the first time since 1989 and seventh time in program history when the team took on Saint Mary’s in a First Four matchup.
After a successful 2012-13 season, the Raiders’ last in the Sun Belt, Davis was listed as one of the finalists for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach.
The 2011-12 season proved to be a historic one for Davis and the Blue Raiders. On Dec. 29, 2011, Davis became the program’s all-time winningest coach, surpassing Jimmy Earle’s mark of 164, as he earned his 165th victory at the helm of the Blue Raiders with a 71-66 triumph over FIU. MT went on to set school records for wins (27), conference wins (14) and road wins (11) that season.
The Blue Raiders made their first appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) since 1988 and advanced to the quarterfinals, beating in-state foe Tennessee for the first time since 1988. MT finished the season as the fourth-best shooting team in the country at 49.5 percent with the top performance coming at UCLA, when the Blue Raiders hit a school-record 71.4 percent of their shots, including a 10-for-11 performance from beyond the arc en route to the 86-66 win.
The Blue Raiders raked in accolades following the 27-7 season, as Davis was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year for the second time in his tenure. Senior LaRon Dendy claimed the league’s Player of the Year award and earned First Team honors, while juniors Marcos Knight and JT Sulton were also named to All-Conference teams. The trio of selections marked the most since MT joined the Sun Belt in the 2000-01 season.
During the 2010-11 campaign, Davis earned his 150th win as the head coach of Middle Tennessee, defeating rival WKU on Feb. 10. He became just the second coach in program history to reach the milestone, joining Earle. He also surpassed the 250 career victory mark, reaching that milestone on Jan. 29, 2009 with a win over Louisiana.
The veteran coach was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2003, as voted on by league coaches. He was named the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year by College Insiders in 2008 after leading the Blue Raiders into the Sun Belt Championship game and again in 2010 after winning the Sun Belt East Division title.
In addition to creating a winning environment at Middle Tennessee, Davis’ leadership has translated to success in the classroom as well. Desmond “Boogie” Yates became the school’s all-time scoring leader during the 2009-10 season, while Kevin Kanaskie took the assist leader title in 2008-09. Off the court, the Blue Raiders enjoyed a 2.92 team GPA during the spring semester of 2010 - the highest for a Middle Tennessee men’s basketball team in 20 years.
Before leaving the Sun Belt Conference, Davis became the league’s all-time winningest coach with MT’s 66-61 victory at UALR on Feb. 16, 2013 marking his 113th league win. Davis surpassed South Alabama’s Ronnie Arrow, who had 112 conference wins. Davis left the Sun Belt with 117 wins in league play.
Davis has excelled in ramping up basketball attendance during his tenure as well, frequently surpassing season attendance marks while notching an average home crowd of nearly 6,000 fans in his most recent season.
A Murphy Center attendance record of 11,807 was set on February 26, 2004 when fans flocked to the “Glass House” to cheer Middle Tennessee to a 73-59 win against three-time defending Sun Belt champion Western Kentucky. When 18,071 attended the Blue Raiders’ game against Memphis at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn., it marked the largest crowd ever for a regular-season men’s basketball game at that venue. Middle Tennessee also drew 11,802 for its home game against Tennessee in November 2009.
In his first season as the Blue Raiders’ head coach, Davis inherited a group of players who had never enjoyed success as members of the Sun Belt. The 2002-03 Blue Raiders were picked fourth (of five) teams in the Sun Belt’s East Division, and eighth of 11 teams overall, but heading into the final week of the regular season Middle Tennessee remained in the championship hunt.
For his efforts, Davis was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year, marking the third time in five years as a Division I head coach he had been so honored.
While Davis’ first team surprised many by reaching the finals of the Sun Belt tournament and putting together the most wins for a Blue Raider squad (16) since the 1997-98 campaign, his second Blue Raider team had to be even more surprising.
Middle Tennessee entered the 2003-04 season with only one returning starter and four letter winners from Davis’ initial Blue Raider team, but the proven winner molded his squad into a championship contender by mid-season. The Blue Raiders increased their number of wins and had fans coming through the turnstiles in record numbers with an exciting style of play.
Middle Tennessee went a step beyond in 2004-05 when the Blue Raiders posted a 19-win season in Davis’ third year, marking the first time since 1997-98 that the team had won as many games.
Like all successful coaches, Davis has been victorious by recruiting players who fit the personality of the team and take ownership of their squad. The 2004 squad was as high as the No. 11 signing class and the 2011-12 class ranked as high as No. 19 by Hoop Scoop.
Prior to being named the head coach at Middle Tennessee, Davis spent five seasons as the associate head coach at LSU under former head coach John Brady. Before he joined Brady at LSU, the Tigers had been languishing near the bottom of the SEC.
It didn’t take long for the team’s fortunes to change. After two seasons of putting the pieces together, the Tigers captured the SEC title in 2000 and went on to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. The Tigers returned to the postseason in 2002 with a trip to the National Invitational Tournament. In the three years immediately preceding Davis’ arrival in Murfreesboro, LSU averaged 20-plus wins per season.
Before LSU, Davis spent one season as the head coach at the University of Idaho; however, his stint with the Vandals was his second tour of duty in Moscow. He also served as the school’s head coach from 1988-90. During his three years as the head coach at Idaho, Davis compiled a 63-29 record, the best three-year total in the program’s history. Davis posted two of the best single-season tallies in school history during his first two seasons at Idaho as well, turning in 25-6 marks in both of those seasons (1988-89, 1989-90).
His Idaho squad won the Big Sky championship in 1989 and went on to capture the league’s tournament crown and a berth into the NCAA Tournament, as well. For his efforts, Davis was named Big Sky Coach of the Year. History repeated itself in 1990 when Davis once again led the Vandals to the Big Sky title in both the regular season and tournament, garnering yet another NCAA Tournament berth.
In fact, Davis himself made history when he became the Vandals’ head coach in 1988. Upon his hiring, Davis was the youngest Division I head coach in the nation at age 28. It was not the first time Davis had been the youngest head coach in the country. When he was hired as the head coach at Southwest Mississippi Junior 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 1990-91 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 1993-94 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. At Utah State, Davis coached under former Southern Mississippi coach Larry Eustachy, and the pair combined to win the Big West championship in 1995. His Utah State tenure ended with his return to Idaho as the Vandals’ head coach, and the rest is history.
Davis’ rapid ascent up the coaching ladder is no coincidence since he grew up watching how one of the preeminent coaches in the country operated on a daily basis. Kermit Davis Sr. was one of the most respected college coaches in the nation, and the younger Davis spent many hours around his dad in the gym and even on the bench during games.
After completing his playing career at Mississippi State, Davis began his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant on Bob Boyd’s staff from 1983-84. Davis earned his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State in 1982 and then obtained his master’s degree there in 1984. He and his wife, Betty, have two daughters, Ally and Claire.
-THE DAVIS FILE-
Middle Tennessee Record: 307-180 (15 seasons)
Division I Record: 378-230 (19 seasons)
Career Record: 444-255 (22 seasons)
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
2025 Blue Raider Blitz Media Panel
Thursday, July 03
MTSU Men's Basketball Coach Nick McDevitt interview at 2025 Blue Raider Blitz
Monday, June 30
MTSU Men's Basketball Post Game Press Conference vs Chattanooga NIT 3/18/25
Tuesday, March 18
