Dick Davey

Richard James Davey Jr. (born April 5, 1942) is an American retired college basketball coach. Davey is best known for being head men's basketball coach at Santa Clara University from 1992 to 2007. Most recently, Davey was the associate head men's basketball coach at Stanford University under head coach Johnny Dawkins from 2008 to 2012 and helped Stanford win the 2012 National Invitation Tournament.

Early life, education, and baseball career Born in San Francisco, Davey grew up in Ceres, California. At Ceres Union High, Davey played on three sports teams as a football quarterback, basketball guard, and baseball catcher.

After graduating from Ceres Union in 1960, Davey attended the College of the Pacific (later University of the Pacific) in Stockton, playing on the varsity basketball team at guard from 1961 to 1964 and varsity baseball from 1962 to 1964. On the Pacific Tigers baseball team, Davey earned All-West Coast Athletic Conference honors in 1963 and 1964. Davey retired from baseball due to an injury.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1964–1977) Davey's coaching career unexpectedly began in grad school when he was charged with starting the University of Pacific Men's soccer team. Davey's response was that "he didn't know a soccer ball from a ping-pong" ball but he'd give it his best effort. Over the next three years, without any scholarships and virtually no budget, Davey built a team that went 15-12, defeated perennial power Santa Clara University, and gave City College of San Francisco its third loss in seven seasons.

Santa Clara assistant coach (1977–1992) Davey moved to Santa Clara University in 1977 and served as assistant to longtime Broncos head coach Carroll Williams. Davey would serve as Williams's top assistant for 15 years, during which Santa Clara had 10 winning seasons including six 20-win seasons.

Santa Clara head coach (1992–2007) On September 9, 1992, Davey was promoted to head coach after Williams became athletic director at Santa Clara. Before the season began, Davey headed to Victoria, B.C. Canada to watch an unheralded and virtually unknown guard, Steve Nash play at St. Michael's Academy. Davey says that he watched thirty seconds of warmups before worriedly looking around for other coaches. In a rather irregular recruiting tactic Davey told Nash's coach, loud enough so Nash could hear, "He might be one of the worst defenders I've ever seen." Nash still came to Santa Clara the next fall.

In his first season, Davey's Broncos finished third but won the WCC tournament and became a 15 seed. In what oddsmakers say is the fifth greatest upset in tournament history, Santa Clara became the second 15 seed to win in the first round, defeating an NBA laden number 2 seed Arizona 64–61 on March 18, 1993.

Led by future NBA MVP Steve Nash, Santa Clara would go on to win the West Coast Conference regular season title in 1995 and 1996 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament both years. Santa Clara signed Davey to a contract extension on March 29, 1995.

The 10-seed Broncos beat Maryland in the first round in 1996. After Nash moved on to the NBA, Santa Clara won a third straight WCC regular season title in 1997, this time led by senior guard Marlon Garnett.

Santa Clara would continue to have consistent winning seasons under Davey, with an 18–10 record in 1997–98, 19–12 in 1999–2000, and 20–12 in 2000–01. However, the program went on a downturn afterward going just 70-78 over the next five seasons. Santa Clara would finish the 2002–03 season 13–15 (4–10 WCC) but improved to 16–16 (8–8 WCC) in 2003–04. However several media outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle reported that top university administrators and major donors wanted a new head coach and a larger basketball budget. In Santa Clara's next game on February 3 at Saint Mary's, Davey got a standing ovation from Saint Mary's fans and a gift argyle sweater from Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett, and Santa Clara won 63–57, resulting in sole possession of second place in WCC standings. Santa Clara finished in 2nd place in Davey's final season 21–10 (10–4 WCC) and Dick Davey earned his fourth and final coach of the year honors. Davey's teams finished in the top 3 in the WCC nine times in his fifteen seasons at Santa Clara.

In late 2007, the authorized biography Dick Davey: A Basketball Life Richly Led was self-published by Chuck Hildebrand, sportswriter and friend of Davey.

Stanford associate head coach (2008–2012) On June 16, 2008, Davey came out of retirement to become associate head coach at Stanford under new head coach Johnny Dawkins. Davey joked that during his interview with Dawkins, "I gave him a list of reasons why he shouldn’t hire me, including my age and the fact that I couldn’t turn a computer on."

Stanford finished the 2008–09 season with a 20–14 (6–12 Pac-10) record, with wins over ranked Arizona State and California teams and a third round 2009 College Basketball Invitational appearance. After two straight losing seasons, Stanford improved to 26–11 (10–8 Pac-12) with the 2012 NIT championship in 2011–12. Davey retired from Stanford after the NIT.

Personal life Davey is married to Jeanne Davey. They have two children, Kimberly Davey, a former professional ballet dancer, and Mike Davey, a longtime basketball head coach at Saratoga High School.

Head coaching record