Photo by Tyler Lamb / Sports Editor
After two consecutive Conference USA championships and first round wins in the NCAA Tournament, Middle Tennessee men’s basketball coach Kermit Davis was rewarded with a new contract extension that will keep him in Murfreesboro through the 2023-24 season.
Davis has spent the last 15 seasons at MTSU and owns a career record of 307-180. He’s had the glut of his success come in the last six seasons, resulting in 154 wins, a Conference USA regular season championship and two conference tournament championships.
Davis helped put Middle Tennessee on the map by leading his team to a stunning 90-81 victory over Michigan State in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, becoming the eighth 15-seed of all time to defeat the two-seed.
Not content with that, Davis coached the Blue Raiders to a 31-5 season that included a school-record 17 conference wins. After winning both the C-USA regular season and tournament championships, the Blue Raiders were given the twelfth seed and a matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the South region of the NCAA Tournament.
MT did not disappoint and defeated the Gophers by a final score of 81-72. The Blue Raiders would lose to Butler in the Round of 32 but it was not the game that Blue Raider nation would remember. The season proved that Middle Tennessee was not a one-hit wonder and the coaching of Davis was a major part of that.
One of the biggest factors in Davis’ decision was his ties to the city of Murfreesboro, as he’s consistently verbalized how much he enjoys being where he is.
“I’m very proud to call Middle Tennessee State University our university and also to call Murfreesboro, Tennessee my home,” Davis said in an interview with MT Athletics. “I’m honored to be the coach at Middle Tennessee and really appreciate the commitment President McPhee and Chris Massaro have made to increase the national brand of our program.”
The Blue Raiders aren’t just getting it done on the court, but in the classroom as well. With the graduation of their four seniors, this runs a streak of consecutive players to graduate to 52 for the Blue Raiders. While coach Davis will lose four key players, he claims that the future is brighter than ever for the MT program.
“I’ve never been more energized and excited about the future of the Middle Tennessee basketball program,” Davis said. “We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but [we] look forward to gaining traction at a national level academically, on the court and in the continued growth of our Blue Raider fan base.”
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