Former Ole Miss basketball coach and Mississippi State guard Kermit Davis Jr. was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Davis, a 1978 graduate of Starkville High, played for MSU for two seasons from 1980-82 and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the program.
Davis made his mark as a coach at Middle Tennessee State, where he led the men’s program for 16 years (2002-18). He had a record of 332-188 with the Blue Raiders and led them to the NCAA tournament four times, including back-to-back trips to the second round (2016 and ’17). Davis was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2003 and won C-USA Coach of the Year in 2017. When he took the Ole Miss job in 2018, Davis left MTSU as the winningest coach in program history.
He took the Rebels to the NCAA tournament in his first season and was named SEC Coach of the Year, but that was their only appearance under Davis. Over five seasons, he was 74-79, including 32-55 in SEC play.
Davis began his head coaching career at Idaho in 1988, going 50-12 over two seasons. He then spent one year leading Texas A&M, going 8-21, before taking the Middle Tennessee job.
Davis is the son of Kermit Davis Sr., who starred at Mississippi State in the 1950s and later became the Bulldogs’ head coach. Davis Sr. was 91-91 over six seasons in Starkville and was named SEC Coach of the Year in 1971. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
Other 2026 Tennessee Hall of Fame inductees included former NFL tight end Jason Witten, former Major League pitcher David Price and former NBA star Marc Gasol.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
