National Articles on Davis Situation

Just a bit of what the National perspective is on the Davis situation.

Web of conceit sacked Davis, not team's play - San Diego Union Tribune

The Mike Davis story isn't tragic so much as it is typical. Davis is an African-American men's basketball coach, but his resignation at Indiana University had little to do – we can hope – with the race rug being pulled out from under him. The problem was his shoe size. His feet weren't big enough to suit the Web termites. Hoosier Nation turned on Mike Davis. But his players hadn't turned on him. Maybe they were trying too hard to please. He only hopes his successor gets a better shake. Mike Davis is ready to get back into it. But it won't be at an Indiana. It'll be where he can be embraced. With fewer termites.

Hey IU fans, we are all termites... hopefully... otherwise we are racist. And there are those that feel Davis' comments are harmless.

And here is what Boston College's Al Skinner is saying:

“It's really unfortunate for that community and for him that he didn't feel comfortable enough working in that environment, comfortable enough to be supported,” says Boston College coach Al Skinner, whose team will meet Pacific today. “He went to the Final Four. He's a good guy. It's very unfortunate that they didn't appreciate him for the quality of his work, which was very good. We already have enough guys getting fired for a lack of quality work.

“You can't say it's just the profession. It's more about that community.”

Hey IU... this is what you get for letting Davis hang around and keep speaking.

X's AND O's, SORT OF - Salt Lake City Tribune

The Indiana Hoosiers have experience with guys like Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, who is averaging 28.5 points per game, thanks to an earlier game against Duke and its superstar, J.J. Redick. But that didn't mean they had a strategy for stopping Morrison, who is the leading scorer in college basketball. "I just hope he can miss some shots," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "No one has figured him out."
The line of thinking also extended to the Zags' second-best player. When asked about the Bulldogs' big man, J.P. Batista, Davis said: "We hope Batista picks up five fouls in the first half."

Thank you Salt Lake City Tribune for catching those quotes... This is the coaching that we have lived with for 6 years.

Gonzaga seeking 20th win in row - Salt Lake City Tribune

A victory for Indiana would go a long way toward proving Davis' doubters wrong

So when IU beats Gonzaga tonight, we have a week of having this thrown in our faces. We IU fans are terrible for forcing poor Mikey out. Good luck Greenspan... you will need it next week.

Indiana's 'stepson' eager to move on - seattlepi.com

Davis is a curiosity. Every fairytale scenario for his Indiana Hoosiers, including an implausible run to a national title, will end with him falling on his sword and carried out on a slab. But that's not the way he sees his decision on Feb. 16 to "resign" from one of the nation's marquee jobs after the conclusion of the season.

He sees it as a mutual escape, a divorce that's good for the kids and the rest of the family. And, boy, does he want to get away from the dysfunctional Hoosier family.

Yep those comments blaming the fans aren't a problem...

He doesn't frame it in those terms. He's respectful of Indiana. Calls it a great program. A "Basketball Mecca."

Of course, he's encouraged under the terms of his $800,000 buyout not to say anything bad about the school, unless he wants to surrender $40,000.

That creates a delicate tap dance, where Davis defends himself and gently points out challenges he faced, while trying not to rip the lunkheads who still lionize former Indiana coach Bobby Knight, who is not only an unredeemable boor but also has been a mediocre-to-bad basketball coach for the past decade.

Lunkheads huh? Knight a mediocre-to-bad coach??? What a moron.

"I'm like a stepson," Davis said. "It takes a special father to treat that stepkid like his own. Every time you see that stepkid, you see the ex."

What????????

Even when he led the Hoosiers to the national championship game in 2002, he still could sense skepticism.

"I was questioned every day," he said.

Hmmm... I wonder how this reporter heard that... oh that's right... Davis is still out there yapping about those evil IU fans.

That negative undercurrent was used against him in recruiting and stranded his tenure under a dark cloud.

Hmmm... more excuses spewed from that open trap.

Then, freed of the browbeating stress, Davis and his team rallied and went 5-2 to end the season, earning a No. 6 seed in the tournament. They fought back from a 10-point second-half deficit against San Diego State on Thursday to earn a spot opposite Gonzaga tonight.

Man that Hoosier Nation must be powerful to yield browbeating stress.

For casual Gonzaga fans -- those whose support is based purely on region or sentiment -- it's a nice, no-lose scenario. Sure, it would be great to see the Zags advance and hush their skeptics, but watching the classy, amiable Davis mount an improbable run also would be great fun.

Classy and amiable... yes we IU fans sure didn't appreciate what a GREAT Coach Mike is.

Davis eventually will be one-and-done, even if he wins out. But he's not finished. Just because he's been soured on Indiana doesn't mean he's soured on coaching. He'd love to head up a program next winter and he's aggressively lobbying for athletic directors to call him.

It's too bad us fans soured Mike on Indiana. Why he wants to forever be a part of the IU family after all that we did to him is just beyond me. He must be a saint.

"My next job, I'll be twice the coach I am now," he said. "My recruiting will be three times better than what it is now."

What????? I thought he was a great recruiter with all those top 5 classes and all. How can he be 3 times better? I feel sorry for the AD that falls for that one.

He's asked what advice he'd give a young coach who's considering taking over at a big-time program with high annual expectations.

First, he says that coach should make sure he has wide support from the fan base, particularly the influential boosters.

Then, after a digression in which he talked about how he averaged 19 wins per year against one of the toughest schedules in the country, he pauses.

Oh, and here's another piece of advice.

"He may want to turn that job down and go somewhere else," he said.

Yep Davis opening his mouth couldn't possible hurt IU. Great call keeping him on the sidelines.

Davis, Hoosiers extend their long goodbye - SignOnSanDiego.com

“My emotions were gone a long time ago as far as it being my last game,” Davis said Friday. “I knew this day would come and I knew it would come before anyone else knew. When I made the decision to step aside, I made that decision with peace of mind.”

Since then, the sixth-seeded Hoosiers (19-11) have won six of seven. They have played with a freedom not seen in a while at Indiana, and both players and coach say it has been easier to function since Davis' decision brought many of the finicky Hoosiers fans back into the fold.

“The pressure, to me, that needed to be released, was off the players,” Davis said. “It's kind of hard to explain the pressure they had on them.”

Yes us finicky Hoosier fans sure are back in the fold. We love it when Mike blames us for his deficiencies as a coach.

Davis, of course, has been through worse predicaments than this over his angst-filled tenure as Bob Knight's successor. Preparing for Morrison isn't going to cost this coach any sleep.

“He's the leading scorer in the country,” Davis said. “There is nothing we can really do. We just have to hope he misses some shots.”

Poor Mikey... his whole 6 years have been angst-filled due to us evil fans. And with a game plan like "We just have to hope he misses some shots" I'm sure he got a good night's sleep last night.

Of course, a few early tournament losses are nothing compared to the season-long scrutiny Davis and his players have been subjected to, a situation Few calls “Sad. Really sad.”

“I think Mike's a heck of a coach,” Few said. “It's kind of the age we live in. There's more pressure on coaches and more pressure on players.”

Again, I'm sure Mike's complaints about the fans are harmless. I mean people wont' take them at face value. They'll look into details about the situation instead of just taking Mike's word for it. Yeah right!

On what he'd tell a young coach getting into a program like Indiana: “Expectations should be according to your personnel. You need the support of the program, first of all.”

There's that expectations should match your personnel comment. So if you fail as a recruiter, you should have low expectations, and that is okay. If an AD hears that and still hires him... shame on him.

And be sure to note that this last article was on the AP wire and picked up all over the country... NICE!

Once again the IU Admin butchers another situation badly. And I'm laughing all the way to the bank with my $2,246 I saved this year by not being an IU Season Ticket holder.

Go Hoosiers! Beat Gonzaga! Another week of Davis quotes will just get better!