Providence Basketball Gambles on Keno

The Friars have hit the jackpot. Finally, a month to the day after the search began, Keno Davis was named the basketball coach at Providence College. PC nation has let out a collective sigh of relief and should be excited and pleased about this tremendous hire.

The past few weeks have been riddled with heartbreak for Friar fans. First, alum Jim Larranaga turned down the opportunity to coach PC and just a week later, UMass head coach Travis Ford also said no to Providence Athletic Director Bob Driscoll. Although both candidates would have been excellent additions, Davis seems right for the job.

After inheriting a struggling Drake program, he led the Bulldogs to a 28-5 record, a Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament championship, several weeks in the Top 25, and a five-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and as an added bonus he was named the AP national coach of the year. For a school that had been rejected by numerous coaches, it was quite an accomplishment for Driscoll and the athletic department to reel in the national coach of the year.

"To get the national coach of the year is a tremendous feat for PC," said Providence College President, Fr. Brian Shanley. "When we talked to him, we [Shanley and Driscoll] knew we had the right hire."

Davis' Cinderella season at Drake was unfortunately cut short by a miraculous overtime shot in the first round of the tournament but that doesn't diminish the tremendous work of Davis in his first year at the helm. The Bulldogs rattled off 21 straight wins, reached their first NCAA tournament since 1971, and received incredible national media attention- something that no Drake team has ever had.

Davis is already known around the country as a great motivator. With two walk-ons in the starting lineup, Drake was picked by most experts to finish ninth in the MVC this season. Yet with the emergence of MVC player of the year Arron Emmenecker, Davis and the Bulldogs ran away with the MVC title.

Although on the outside he appears somewhat inexperienced, it is important to note that he comes from a tremendous coaching pedigree. His father, Dr. Tom Davis, a long-time coach and author of several coaching books, is seen as one of college basketball's best minds. Dr. Davis is a long-time friend of Friar Legend Dave Gavitt. His coaching tree includes national champion Gary Williams and Tennessee's Bruce Pearl. Keno Davis was Pearl's assistant prior to his time at Drake.

Pulling Davis out of his comfortable situation in Iowa seemed to be a tough task but he has many ties to the northeast. He grew up outside of Boston during his father's tenure as head coach at Boston College and is a great enthusiast of Big East basketball. "It was very tough to leave Drake but I'm very familiar with this area and the Big East," said Davis. "We [PC basketball] are at the tipping point of something special."

After weeks of searching for its next head coach, both Bob Driscoll and Fr. Shanley commented on the attributes they were looking for in the next potential coach.

"We wanted a coach that had head coaching experience," said Driscoll. "Keno is an excellent cultural fit for Providence College."

Fr. Shanley, who played an instrumental role in the search process felt similarly about Davis.

"We talked to some of the most knowledgeable members of the college basketball community," said Shanley. "It was our task to find a coach who would lead our student-athletes and embrace the Colleges mission. Keno Davis met all of our selection criteria."

With a new coach, obviously the Friars will play a different brand of basketball from what fans became accustomed to during the Tim Welsh era. We will most likely see a faster-paced style than we're used to. In recent years, the Friars have had the capability to run a fast game, but often opted not to. The three-pointer will be an important piece, too. Davis' squad at Drake torched their opponents from beyond the arc, but they did so in a much more organized fashion than most teams do. He uses a motion-based offense and relies on his players being able to drive to the basket and kick out to open perimeter shooters when the shots are there.

One of the main points of emphasis during the press conference was Davis' devotion to getting his players to work hard. Under the tutelage of his father and Bruce Pearl, Davis likes a fast-pace game that promotes hard work and dedication.

"I was looking for someone who I believed had the ability to inspire," said Shanley. "We have found someone [Davis] who will build the character of our players, and oh yes, he will win."

Up at the podium, Shanley and Driscoll also conveyed an important message: Providence College is ready to compete with the big boys. The Shanley/Driscoll administration has taken several steps to make it to this point. They inherited a program suffering from decades of complacency and neglect, a program years behind its competitors. They instituted athletics-only giving, lobbied for a new Dunk, and built a new Lacrosse/Field Hockey complex, a state-of-the-art sports medicine facility, and the Concannon Fitness Center. With much improved facilities, the administration expects success. "We don't want to make any more excuses," said Driscoll.

Davis seemed genuinely enthused about being at Providence College. Sitting beside his wife on the podium, he joked about returning to Red Sox Nation and was extremely relaxed and composed.

"It's great to be here and an absolute honor to be a part of Providence," said Davis. "You look at the traditon of Povidence College Basketball and to be a part of that means a lot to me."

When asked about the prospects of next season, Davis did not promise an NCAA title banner but he did lay out the way in which he hopes his team will operate.

"I'm not going to put a number on the amount of wins I expect," said Davis. "We're just going to make sure that we get better everyday."